Y/N’s P.O.V.:

It was up to you to be patient and to wait. You would rather have been in a different place or would rather have become a Walker. Zero worries, only irreparable hunger. It would have been easier. The burning sun illuminated the area, which was supposed to be the role of a stage. You were the actors who were to give life to an exciting show. At the end of the show, there would have been no applause, bouquets or compliments, just corpses… You mourned for the compound-bow that Rick had given you in the hope that this object would allow you the fate imposed extend or not. Everyone was at their posts, ready to face a collision that could have been easily avoided. It was unnecessary to remember the thoughts of who you were in the past. You had developed further… Rick shrugged, trying to loosen his muscle tension. His eyes were fixed on the fence, eager to see the footsteps of the enemy in the vegetation. Several dozen were visible, but after the first shot many more came when the first bullet hit the ground. The small clock with the black obsidian dial, which you had tied to your wrist, marked the time. You stood in front of one of the wooden planks that you had set up with Michonne, which would have been useful for the machine guns. Potential shelters, though not very strong… Daryl now had a shotgun. A nice weapon. The others occasionally looked at each other and wondered what it would be like to wait there, but no one had the courage to question the sheriff and they respected his will. Nothing would have made the difference… Hershel, who had taken a seat next to Carl, looked over his shoulder and looked at the cell block. Beth was inside to protect the little ass kicker, a nickname the archer had given her. You had left her ammunition and a backpack full of supplies so that if the situation went badly, she would have escaped from the battlefield and secured the survival of both for at least a few days. What sounded like a distant humming came closer and closer. They came… Your figures became rigid, almost statuesque. Two jeeps and other cars lined up at the gate, then the Governor emerged from the dense flora of the forest. The men on horseback and on foot took care of the Walkers that crowded against the fences and when the ground was clear of them, Philip came down and put his arms in his side while Rick took a few steps forward.

“It seems to me like a déjà vu!”, said the leader of Woodbury. The men next to him laughed, but Rick stayed in place.

“As soon as your ass rots on this ground!”, Rick replied. Daryl looked at the sheriff as if he had not expected such an answer. Normally, Rick also remained diplomatic in difficult situations. But Philip didn’t care about the threat and suddenly aimed at you.

“I’m surprised to see you alive! Didn’t those idiots find out what kind of person you are?”

You didn’t respond to his provocation and kept the barrel of the gun straight to aim at his chest.

“Do you have any idea who you are dealing with?”, Rick growled.

“Just because I know it, I’m sure I’ll win!”

“Is this what you want?”, Rick said pointing to a girl with a ponytail: “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 now said to the entire group.

“Liar!”, the Governor answered, and suddenly a bullet pierced Carol’s shoulder, which immediately fell to the ground. As a result, Maggie did the same, fearing that she would be hit as well. Some snipers were hiding in the forest. The moment you were all seeking protection, the tank started with its roar, destroying the massive iron gate. They moved forward and made their way to the yard. A rain, indeed, a thunderstorm hit the prison. The first unloading of a machine gun was fired on you all, with the intention to scare you and destroy part of the planned accommodation. In the meantime, a bus was moving at great speed and broke through the fence. A man came down hastily, opened the bus doors and reached his companions. The machine guns fell silent and made them protagonists of the shattering complaints. A herd of Walkers entered the open field and approached your direction. The two women peered out of the towers and fired at both the Walkers closest to you and the soldiers. Hershel and Carl, who were on the mezzanine, had the opportunity to cover you. The four of you on the ground, still sitting by the protective shields, jumped up. You fired and smashed some of the car’s windshields, then picked up a crowbar and prepared to smash a few skulls. The infiltration of the Walkers proved to be effective, but also counterproductive. These were attracted not only by your smell, but also by the soldiers, who also aroused their interest.

“Go through the fence with your cars! Get your guns, we go in! Kill them all!”, the Governor screamed.

The cars broke the fences one after another. In no time the enemies had conquered your soil and had penetrated into the area beyond the yard. If by that time the distance in your favor would have been beneficial and let you escape some bullets, it was no longer possible. The tank fired again and hit the building. A strong heat was radiating and the ground started to shake. The positions Rick had designed disappeared within seconds. Each of you took logically different directions to ensure good protection and an excellent view. You had to flee, both the Walkers and the soldiers who were in large numbers compared to you. You saw Carol and Maggie leave the towers and fight. Some discharges hit the wall that served as a cover. Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed that Shumpert was moving forward, so you loaded the gun, fired at him, and ran behind one of your cars to protect yourself. Without hesitation, you shot him and the bullet pierced his head. When you ran, you saw a hand grenade close enough to your feet, but you immediately kicked it away and threw yourself behind the car. You had no time to look around much, took a deep breath and leaned forward and ran to another car. You tried desperately to see Philip, you were afraid to find him in front of you, but were suddenly prevented by a bullet in your thigh. You dragged yourself behind a protective shield reinforced with wooden planks. Your leg was already soaked in blood but despite the extreme pain, you tried to look between the tables you had placed to see if a soldier was around or a sniper. And when you saw Martinez, one hand grabbed you, pushed you down and one knee rested on your back.

“Down!”, Daryl shouted and Martinez continued to fire furiously on you until the gun was empty, forcing him to seek refuge. The archer dropped the shotgun after he had used up the ammunition and took an AK.

“Yer wounded?”, he asked and loaded the weapon.

“They shot me in the leg, nothing serious.”, you replied and he took a knife and cut a hole in your pants.

“Gotta check if the projectile ’s still ‘nside.”

You stopped him because there was no time to get medical treatment. Daryl himself was not sure… You squatted on the walls and fired at every enemy you saw. A soldier who came too close to you both was immediately killed by Daryl as he jumped out and slammed the blade into his throat. He took the grenades from him and ran to the tank. Distracted from the scene, you didn’t notice Martinez standing next to you and he hit you on the back of the head with the end of his gun. He sat down on you and punched your face. But you had time to pull out your knife, which you immediately sunk into his shoulder. He screamed in pain and let go and you used that to hit him in the face with full force and he fell aside.

“You damn bitch!”, he shouted.

With pain, you got up and clung to your healthy leg. You took out your revolver and fired and Martinez was dead immediately… The situation was chaotic. Shots. Screams. Walkers. It was hard to concentrate. Daryl killed another enemy by shooting him in the chest and was beside the tank when it fired again and destroyed another part of the block. Beth had to escape, but there was a likelihood that some debris had blocked the passage or a corridor. The archer jumped up and slipped the grenade into the tube of that metallic monster. Maggie and Carol hid behind a wall, now without ammunition. So you threw your gun and ammunition to them and only held your knife in my hand. Armed only for close combat, you hurried to the entrance of the block when you saw Hershel go in. He had thought of his daughter… Now that the tank was out of service, it would be safer in the block. You approached Michonne, who was bleeding above her eyebrow.

“Did you see where the piece of shit went?”, she asked breathlessly: “He has my sword!”

“No.”, you replied curtly. You fired on a soldier who was advancing slowly in search of the Governor. He couldn’t have gotten far. You approached Glenn, but noticed a tall man, along with a thin girl. They were on the Governor’s side, but you had never seen them in Woodbury before.

“Who the hell is that?”, you asked, pointing to them.

“Tyreese and Sasha. Rick did not accept them and the Governor took them in. I don’t know what’s going on.”, Glenn replied. Rick, dirty with blood and mud, made his way exhausted and staggered a bit. Michonne asked him if he had seen Philip, but he too had lost sight of him in battle. Some shots forced you all to split again, committing you to eliminate multiple enemies. Rick ran to the prison block. But you all already knew: You couldn’t stay there anymore, it was not safe anymore. You had to flee, but the soldiers fired over and over again and didn’t care about the danger behind them. Suddenly a heartbreaking cry went up into the sky. Despite the shots, the grenades, the confusion… This scream was beyond anything. You saw Maggie fell to the ground groaning, tears streaming down her face. You turned in the direction of her tortured voice. Rick. Rick stared at the door of block C. There was the Governor. He had something in his hand, something that bleed heavily. Your thoughts stopped and so did your body. As your eyes focused on what he was holding, you felt deprived of everything. Empty… The right arm that was raised so everyone could see it showed Hershel’s head…

The Governor’s P.O.V.:

The sniper, as ordered, shot at the woman on the watchtower. The signal that informed the driver of the bus to break the main fence. The group unnecessarily hid in the belief that the bullets were their only problem. Y/N had proved incapable, a traitor. I had made a mistake believing in her, and worse, I had made a mistake not killing her last night when I had the opportunity.

The driver opened the doors and allowed the living dead to get into the prison. Y/N aimed at our cars, but the distance did not allow her good accuracy and the group scattered in panic. I was the one who led this war… We also destroyed the other fences and made our way through the prison. My men fired without mercy. The Walkers went ahead hungry and forced them to split up. That way, it would have been easier to overpower them. They were trapped, damned to death and I, their hangman. The tank hit the prison again. Shumpert aimed at Y/N, but that bitch was faster and killed him. That damn Whore… I had to kill her, she made my blood boil. Unfortunately, I only fired into her leg.

“Martinez!”, I shouted: “Over there!”

He unloaded the machine gun at the part where Merle’s brother and the slut Y/N had sought shelter. In the meantime, I quickly moved between the Walkers and killed some. The tank fired again. The air was warm. She smelt burned. The shouts, the shots. They satisfied me… I had destroyed their little paradise and led them to hell. I saw the old man go into the prison and I knew he was in a dead end. A new victim… But suddenly I was in front of Michonne and immediately hit her in the face with the fist, with all the anger I had in my body. This woman took everything I had left: My beloved daughter Penny… She fell to the ground and I stole her sword whereupon I went to the cell block C. The old man was a few feet away. I had built an empire, I had people in my service, I had convinced everyone that war also means peace. I was a leader. And so I walked through these corridors with slow and safe steps.

“Beth! Beth!”, shouted the old man.

His daughter must have been there, hidden somewhere. But the debris slowed him down. Then he stopped, as if surrendering. He had seen me and understood that it was over. He didn’t say a word, just looked at me with those clear eyes that showed justice and common sense. He had to die. No one was allowed to remain… I grabbed the handle of the sword and lifted the sharp blade into the sky and let it fall back with full force. The screams of a girl distracted me, it had to be Beth. But she didn’t have the courage to move forward. She stopped at the end of the corridor and stared at her father’s face. But my show wasn’t finished yet. I would have shown everyone what was waiting for them. I wiped my face with the sleeve of my jacket and approached the girl. For a moment, I considered removing her as well, but killing her would only relieve her own pain while I wanted her to suffer forever. So I left her there, in the company of her beloved father’s body. She would never forget this picture… Did I feel almighty? Yes. I opened the damn door and raised the old man’s head with hatred so everyone could see it. I was at the center of the situation, all eyes were on me. On their faces, expressions of pain and disbelief had formed as if they were dizzy. But that was the reality, they would never wake up from the nightmare. The group moved, but they were blocked by my men and a horde of Walkers coming closer and closer. Rick, who was farther away, was the only one who managed to reach me. I threw the head away from me which was rolling through the dust on the ground. Rick threw himself at me like a lion trying to rip a gazelle and the sword slipped away. I let him have his first punches just to make him believe he could win it. But then we swapped roles. Now he lay with his back to the ground and I was the aggressor. My hands were shaking with the desire to kill him and I didn’t protest. We heard screams and shots around us. But everything sounded muffled. I focused exclusively on my sacrifice, so much so that I did not know what was happening nearby. He moaned in pain and was on the verge of fainting. Suddenly a stream of blood poured over him. A blade. The katana came out of my abdomen. At that very moment, I felt the intensity of the pain and fell to the side. They fleed. Everyone of my people screamed and fled. The wave of the living dead had arrived and ended the fight. It shouldn’t have ended like this, that was not what I had planned. I should have been victorious. I couldn’t die. I wasn’t allowed to. I was not allowed to die here…

Y/N’s P.O.V.: 

Something exploded, grenades, cars, you didn’t know. You were in pain. Every sound was muffled. You tried to get up, leaning on your hands, but had no balance. You clung to the rest of the fence and saw what catastrophic power had fallen on the prison. A wounded man equipped with a flamethrower tried to set fire to the herd of living dead… You hobbled as fast as you could and moved with small but unsteady steps. In the distance, you saw Glenn throw himself into the bush and flee. You looked around quickly and hoped to see someone else from the group but couldn’t find anyone. You remembered Rick’s scream, the last thing you heard earlier, and immediately looked at the cell block door. You ran as fast as you could and dropped to your knees in shock when you saw Philip on the ground… His hands were busy pressing on a wound on his stomach. He looked at you lost, as if he saw something else around your figure. He died slowly, surrounded by the chaos he had created. A murderer who fell in his own war. He would have killed you without hesitation and yet you couldn’t avoid the strange feeling that his image offered you. You should have shot him but couldn’t suppress the damn trigger, you just wanted to see him die slowly and painfully. But you had to leave. And then you ran as fast as your bullet wound allowed you to escape through a hole in the fence and then to escape through the vegetation. Your foot collided with something metallic and forced you to look down to see what it was. You noticed Daryl’s crossbow covered with earth. You shook it, removed the superficial layer of dirt, and hung it over your shoulder. But your eyes were caught by another detail that you would rather have missed. Hershel’s head was still alive… The transformation process was already complete. The iris seemed to be covered with a gray veil. The mouth was wide open, careful to bite into the void. You couldn’t leave Hershel under these conditions. You felt sorry for him and so you sank your knife in his head and gave him the peace he deserved.

One last time you looked back at the prison, at what could have been a home. Now you were on your own again, but this war was finally over. And so you went your way and dived into the dense vegetation of the forest…