You went side by side. She wasn't a woman of many words. A quality that you still appreciated. You couldn't bear to talk to her. You tried to tell yourself not to kill her, though your mind gave you a thousand ways to do it. Her own Katana swung to the rhythm of her footsteps. Dark dreadlocks on her shoulders, a bandana in her hair. Athletic. Pretty. But a personality hiding a dark side. She seemed offended, as if she wasn't satisfied with the task assigned to her. She felt compelled to keep an eye on you, but you could understand it. She had no idea who you were, what you could do... The mission was pretty easy to get medical supplies, but in this world there was nothing easy and obvious anymore. When you were close enough to the pharmacy of a ruined small town, she pulled out the katana. After you killed a Walker you entered a house and heard noises above you. Yoy also took out your katana. As you went up the stairs, two Walkers were pointed at you. You stuck to the idea Michonne had suggested to you. You cut off their jaws with the blade and Michonne robbed them of their upper limbs. You were a little hesitant. You didn't know if with these two simple Walkers the little herd wouldn't recognize you, but she was sure it would work. That wasn't the first time... So you went back to the street. Slowly, carefully, to avoid any suspicious movement, you both passed through the crowd of living dead. It was a tricky situation, but at the same time you were almost amused. You never thought of using a Walker as a pet. You kept him on a leash, like a dog. Being with them means being like them. That's why the Walkers didn't notice your presence. You continued at a slow pace until you saw the building on the street corner. From the outside, it seemed to be in good condition. In front of the entrance was a large chain, enriched by the respective padlock. Someone had already gone that way... However, you had hoped to find something that was helpful, but there was the possibility that another group had already taken everything.

"Did you find something?", Michonne asked a short time later.

"No, just a few pills, but we could still look around in the storage room."

"Yes, maybe something is still there."

Her annoyed tone made you think that she had a feeling for it, but you were not sure if that was just it. Maybe she was careful because she didn't know you long enough. But the door to the storage room was locked from the inside. When you tried to crack the lock, the door snapped back and suddenly opened.

"Go back!", a man shouted. But the first thing you saw was the barrel of a .44 Magnum aimed at your forehead. You got up and went back to see another man coming forward, pointing his sawed-off shotgun at your companion. She remained silent, one hand behind her head, holding the hilt of the sword.

"We don't want problems, this is our refuge, so get out and nobody gets hurt...", the stranger ordered. The first person was characterized by a slim figure and a work suit. The other man, imposing, wore a large red plaid shirt. Behind them you noticed ammunition, bottles and canned food. They had supplies and feared that someone might steal their food. Their threatening attitude was tense. Neither you nor Michonne took them seriously. Their attitude betrayed incompetence in close combat, you could have killed them immediately, because none of them would fight and you could steal their supplies. But you could have negotiated. The problem was that you had little available and there was also the possibility that they would refuse. First of all, the situation had to be clarified. It hurt to admit it, but the complicity of Michonne would have been useful. You looked each other in the eye. To disarm the man, you would have had to be very quick. The movements to be performed are very simple, but to get a result, you have to be precise. You would have to hit the enemy's wrist with stiff palms. The left hand must slide against his wrist, so that the weapon is aimed at the bastard's body. At that moment, the opponent's grip would be weaker for a fraction of a second and you can rob him of his own weapon. Michonne would have to act as soon as you had his wrist and aimed her sharp blade at the other's neck. A wrong action and everything would take a new turn. The asshole could have shot you. A quick, clean punch, and the revolver was in your hands. Too easy... You were relieved to see the immovable man being threatened by the katana.

"We do not want problems, but we need a few things... Medicine...", you said firmly. They remained silent.

Maybe they felt humiliated. In short, beaten by two women. Then you continued the conversation: "I suggest I make an offer, and if you give us some antibiotics and painkillers, we'll escort you out of this town in return, and we'll teach you how to go unnoticed among the Walkers."

You could feel Michonne's eyes peeking, but you didn't lose eye contact with the two men. One of them shrugged slightly, as if to explain that he had surrendered, while the other seemed to have doubts.

"And if we don't accept it?"

"Quite simply, we go without the meds and you stay here waiting for the Walkers out there, of course you can not go out and kill them because there are too many... You don't have enough ammo and the shots would only attract more."

"Okay, Deal, our life for some meds seems more than reasonable, just painkillers and antibiotics right?"

You lowered the gun, took the ammunition, and returned it. Michonne did the same, lowered her katana, and took the other man's rifle.

"Now that I think about it, there's something else...", you replied with a grimace. A big question mark appeared on Michonne's face. Who knows what she would have told Rick? The man looked at you seriously and feared that you had betrayed them.

"Your plaid shirt, I like it."

~

The gates opened and you trotted inside. The different members of the group were busy. Everyone has something to do. They seemed to be preparing for an attack.

"Hey, have you been shopping?", Glenn laughed, pointing to the shirt you were now wearing over your top.

"Is a gift, just like the medication."

Glenn looked surprised: "A present?"

"Let's call it the spontaneous granting of two strangers.", you replied with a smile. He shook his head laughing and threw a knife to you. "Come, let's get rid of a few Walkers and reinforce the fence."

The undead crashed one after the other. Once the accumulation of these creatures was reduced, you proceeded to improvements to the fence. You lifted one of these heavy tree trunks and put it between the ground and the fence, because it had to serve as a support. Hershel watched you from a distance and took care of the vegetables. When you mechanically continued this task, you did not speak and you noticed that he often turned around to look for Maggie to meet her eyes. Glenn was a good guy with a big heart. He would do anything to protect his people. Nevertheless, everyone looked worried. No one wanted to fight, no one wanted to go to war against the Governor. They only organized the defense, hoping it was just a waste of time. The fact is that they are ready. They would lose their lives, but they would fight. By number and armament, the victory was surely in the hands of Woodbury, but this group wouldn't be easy to fight. They were different...

"Glenn, who are we defending ourselves from?"

He looked at you and ran a hand through his hair. "I thought Rick had talked to you about it?"

You remained silent and shook your head before he spoke again: "Maybe I'm not the best person to explain the problem, but there's a city not far from here, it's name is Woodbury. The boss is called the Governor. He's in charge of everything. And one day, when I wanted to go back with Maggie, Daryl's brother forced us to go where they captured us."

You knew exactly who he was talking about...

"His name is Merle and he's been part of us in the past. He beated me, tied me together and locked me up with a Walker, asking where we took refuge, and the Governor raped Maggie-... "

Shit. This can't be true...

"...-Or maybe not, I have no idea, she assured me that he did not touch her, but you know, if you see your big love like this, without a top, in front of you, next to that asshole... Fortunately, Michonne had witnessed our capture and heard our speeches, so she heard about the prison and ran here and warned the others, they organized a rescue mission, they released us, but they captured Daryl. However, we came back to fetch them, we killed some of them but were forced to do so. The Governor attacked us last week, he came here by calling surprised us and destroyed one side of the fence, there were Walkers everywhere."

You should have pretended to be shocked and disbelieving, but there was no reason to pretend this. Because you really were. Philip had not told you about it. Did he lie to you? Your heart screamed and told you to believe the Governor's words, but your rationality knew it was not the way to go. You were in a fucked up situation... Both sides had their reasons and their mistakes, but the trust in the man who had taken you in then wavered. Would you have contributed to the extermination of this group? Your thoughts clashed, you were struck by a thousand questions and paranoia. You were angry. He could not have lied to you so shamelessly...

"I don't know what to say... It's a very complicated matter, I'm sorry, what happened..."

He put his hand on your shoulder as if you were the one he needed to comfort.

"The world has become like this... This war is all about folly, revenge and the desire for superiority. Nobody wants to give up, but show themselves invincible."

He was right, the Governor was an asshole. But he hadn't always been. Reality had changed him, and the death of his family was the end for him... You still thought you could do something. He usually listened to you, but it would have been difficult to remove him from the uncontrollable desire to eradicate Rick and his friends. Because he knew him, he wanted to make them suffer for a long time before giving them the right to take their own lives. You weren't even sure if Rick would give up the idea of ​​leaving the hate speech unsolved. He too had been attacked.

"Have you lost many people?", you asked, hoping for a negative answer.

"Yes and no, some of the men we met in prison died, they were prisoners, but some of them were good people."

"Okay...", you replied, squatted down and wanted to continue the work. Glenn followed you without batting an eyelid. It was a sensitive topic for both of you. For a moment it seemed to you that he had opened his mouth, wanted to ask you or to say something, but he lowered his head again. After three more established tree trunks, he seemed to have changed his mind.

"Sorry if I ask you, but now that you know our story... I'd like to know yours."

You nodded that it was fair and started talking: "Before all this, I lived with my family in a quiet town, typically with terraced houses, fences and immaculate gardens. I lived there with my parents and my younger sister, my father was a sergeant and I wanted to follow in his footsteps as a young girl. He taught me a lot of fighting techniques, then the epidemic came and my mother was bitten, just as more news about violence and panic was on TV, my mother turned around and bit our dad..."

Glenn stared at you and regretted having made such a request.

"I managed to lock her in a room and ran away with my sister. We've been able to protect us pretty well for about a month... Now I'm here."

You wanted to skip the passing events. It was not necessary to go into detail. After all, it would make no sense to talk to him about the death of your little sister. It was completely intuitive... You looked at each other with the same melancholy feeling. The empathy of those times had shot up. You were all in the same boat, on the same damn boat, exposed to the storm and tidal waves. A voice interrupted your reflection on the past and involuntarily led us to turn around to understand where it came from. You saw Daryl and Carol shouting and getting angry. She tried to call him back, but the archer didn't look at her and continued his way. Glenn and you were finished by then and you were released from your job with a smile. You entered the cell block and wanted to spend a few minutes in your bed to rest, so you sat down on this uncomfortable mattress with your head in your hands. You stared at the floor, still thinking about Glenn's words. Then you noticed that a shadow came near you. Beth stood in the doorway with little Judith in her arms. The baby slept blissfully, regardless of the reality in which she was born.

"May I come in?", she asked and you gestured for her to sit down. She looked so fragile, so innocent. It was almost a disturbing element in this group. A naive angel. Her eyes full of hope, the desire to live. Although she was bored, she was happy.

"Hard day?", she asked kindly.

"A little bit, and you?"

Beth shrugged: "I'm just with Judith, I'm probably not very helpful out there..."

"You're helpful, Rick trusts you blindly.", you answered with a smile, but she didn't seem to agree.

"Do you think so? They just gave me the role of the babysitter because they think I'm useless..."

"No Beth, that's not true, I see an leader who has decided to put the care of his newborn daughter in the hands of the most suitable person, and that's you. You are very important to these people."

She smiled at you and looked down: "I hope it's true."

When you saw her clear skin and those skinny arms protecting the baby, you noticed a wound on her wrist. A straight, long and bright scar. Your face had a lost expression when she noticed it. She quickly covered herself with the sleeve of her denim jacket and blushed with embarrassment. Beth wanted to leave, but you stopped her. You loosened your wrist from the long-sleeved plaid shirt the stranger had given you and showed it to her. A deep and long scar. A painful memory.

"Don't feel alone Beth... I once gave up too..."