❛ He told me I should take it in, listen to every word he's speaking. The wires getting older, I can hear the way they're creaking as they're holding him. ❜

SEASON 3, EPISODE 3
walk with me

━━━━━━ day 303.

THE FOLLOWING DAY, Cal met the Governor for breakfast along with Milton, Andrea, and Michonne. The Governor fixed them eggs while encouraging Andrea to give them a little more about her and Michonne's experience since the outbreak began.

⠀⠀⠀"Eight months?" the Governor repeated after Andrea finished, shocked to hear how long the women had been surviving on scraps. "Hard to believe your ladies lasted so long out there."

⠀⠀⠀"Because we're women?" Andrea asked bluntly.

⠀⠀⠀The table sat frozen at her sharp accusation for a moment before it settled once again. Cal couldn't help himself let out a small snort into his teacup, hoping Andrea wouldn't notice. She did, sending him a piercing glare. Cal set his teacup down and rose his hands to show Andrea his surrender.

⠀⠀⠀"Because you're alone," the Governor corrected her, glossing over the shuffling complexes of Andrea. One that was superior to everyone else, and the insecurity she felt towards them as men.

⠀⠀⠀Cal was not one to pass over sexism. Still, Andrea's response was obviously more of a defense mechanism than actual judgment of them. She assumed rather than noticed. None of them thought because they were women, they couldn't survive. Well, Cal wouldn't put it past the Governor but even he seemed surprised by Andrea's outburst. No, Cal knew that if he and Bianca were out on their own like Andrea and Michonne, Bianca would outlast him by decades.

⠀⠀⠀"We had each other," Andrea muttered, softening up as she realized how defensive she was.

⠀⠀⠀"Two against the world. It's long odds," the Governor commented, setting down a plate in front of Michonne.

⠀⠀⠀"We manage."

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, we're impressed," the Governor assured her with a nod.

⠀⠀⠀"Very," Milton added.

⠀⠀⠀The Governor finished serving the table then sat down to finish their conversation.

⠀⠀⠀"Survival in the wild is tough sledding," the Governor added with a knowing frown. A crease between his brows that held all the atrocities the three had seen since the beginning. "Wake up every morning on the ground, wondering if today's the day. Will it be quick and final or slow and... well, without end? Will someone have the good sense to kill my brain, or will I come back as one of them?"

⠀⠀⠀"Do you think they remember anything?" Milton asked Andrea curiously, eyeing her as she picked at her food. Cal had heard this conversation before. It was one he wasn't too fond of. However, Milton seemed to think he was heading down a righteous path. "The person they once were?"

⠀⠀⠀"I don't think about it," Andrea said shortly, like a person who had thought of it every waking moment.

⠀⠀⠀"Milton believes there might be a trace of the people they were, still trapped inside," the Governor explained further for Milton.

⠀⠀⠀"Like an echo. Surely, it must have crossed your mind," Milton pressed.

⠀⠀⠀"One time, yeah," Andrea laughed, the edges of her eyes creasing upwards. "Right before it tried to bite me!" she exclaimed with a laugh.

⠀⠀⠀"And then you killed it?" Milton asked, unbothered by her statement, still looking for the answer he wanted. "I only say 'it' because no one here likes to refer to them as him..." Milton continued, looking at Andrea to gauge her reaction. "Or, her..."

⠀⠀⠀"Or them," Cal added.

⠀⠀⠀"Yes, of course," Milton agreed, but only to appease Cal before turning to Michonne with a curious furrow of his brow. "The two you had in chains, who were they? The way you controlled them, used them to your benefit. You did know them, didn't you?"

⠀⠀⠀Michonne had returned to her silence, unresponsive to the pestering questions, but she was sure to let Milton know exactly how she felt. Her dark glare peered straight through him, and a shiver ran down even Cal's spine in fear.

⠀⠀⠀Milton, very faintly, reminded Cal of Bianca. He was a man of science, and so was she. Sometimes, it got away from Milton that the people he talked to were people and pressed further than he needed to. Bianca did the same, often getting too personal with people in an attempt to find the truth.

⠀⠀⠀"Milton, what have we talked about prying?" Cal chastised his... friend, he guessed. They'd been through a lot, and the year of horror had felt like a lifetime. Cal knew Milton better than a lot of people from his old life in a shorter amount of time. However, Milton was wrapped around the Governor's thumb.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, my apologies," Milton quickly said to Michonne, ducking his head and returning to his meal.

⠀⠀⠀"So, what you have here. You expect it to hold? What if a herd comes through?" Andrea asked them, moving away from the awkward conversation.

⠀⠀⠀"It'll hold," the Governor assured her.

⠀⠀⠀"What's your secret?" she asked.

⠀⠀⠀"Really big walls," he answered with a smile.

⠀⠀⠀"That soldier had walls, too, and we all know how that turned out, so..." Andrea claimed, darting her gaze away with a disbelieving laugh.

⠀⠀⠀The Governor glanced at Milton, then Cal.

⠀⠀⠀"I guess we do," the Governor nodded. "The real secret is what goes on within these walls. It's about gettin' back to who we are. Who we really are. They're just waitin' to be saved. People here have homes, medical care, kids go to school, adults have jobs to do. There's a sense of purpose. We're a community."

⠀⠀⠀"With a lot of guns and ammunition," Milton added lightly.

⠀⠀⠀"Never hurts!" the Governor jested in time.

⠀⠀⠀"And really big walls," Andrea chuckled.

⠀⠀⠀"And men willing to risk everything to defend them," the Governor continued. He looked at Cal, eyes gleaming with pride as he rested his hand on his shoulder. It felt strange, as a boy who never had a father figure in his life got the look he always sought. But it curdled like spoiled milk and made him sick inside. The Governor wasn't the type of man Cal wanted to be proud of him. "Compromise our safety, destroy our community... I'll die before I let that happen."

⠀⠀⠀An awkward silence surrounded them as the Governor released Cal and sipped from his tea. Andrea watched him, unimpressed by his words.

⠀⠀⠀"Looks like you're sitting pretty at the end of the world," Andrea commented.

⠀⠀⠀"Do I strike you as the man who sits pretty?" the Governor asked, his words hardened from her second accusation of the morning. "You reap what you sow. We're the seed. Now that winter has passed, it's time to harvest."

⠀⠀⠀"Time to hope?" Andrea asked.

⠀⠀⠀"We're goin' out there. We're takin' back what's ours! Civilization. We will rise again," the Governor preached with his chest. "Only this time, we won't be eatin' each other," he chuckled.

⠀⠀⠀"To civilization, then," Andrea toasted after a moment.

⠀⠀⠀A knock at the door filled the room, finishing their conversation as the Governor stood to answer. Shumpert entered while Milton busied himself by asking how Andrea's tea was. The Governor and Shumpert whispered at the door before the door shut again, and the Governor turned back to his guests.

⠀⠀⠀"Sorry to cut breakfast short, but this can't wait," the Governor explained.

⠀⠀⠀"We want our weapons!" Michonne snapped at him, standing to her feet. The calm mountain decided to blow timely.

⠀⠀⠀"Well, we can make these meals to go, and your weapons will be waitin' outside," the Governor assured her, but he didn't make it easy. "But, you should take time to relax. Get your strength back. Have a look around. Who knows? You might like what you see."

THE GOVERNOR AND his men went out to where the soldier they rescued from the helicopter explained the rest of his army was. Cal had stayed behind, helping to cover the wall with the extra men dispatching from Woodbury. It took a few hours, but then the sound of humvees filled their ears and the gates opened to showcase the Governor and his men, but none of the soldiers he went to rescue.

⠀⠀⠀The townsfolk walked over, curious and itching to hear the Governor's news as he stood on the truck of one of the Jeeps to make his public address.

⠀⠀⠀"We brought in three new people yesterday," the Governor began, despondent as he addressed his people. "One was a helicopter pilot with a National Guard outfit. Even though he's clingin' to life, he told us about his convoy on the highway, his men. I promised I'd bring them back here alive...

⠀⠀⠀"But they didn't have our walls or our fences. Biters got there before we did. Now, the men had trucks. The trucks had weapons, food, medicines, things we need. Now, we didn't know them, but we'll honor their sacrifice by not taking what we have here for granted.

⠀⠀⠀"Won't be long before dark, so go on home. Be thankful for what you have. Watch out for each other."

⠀⠀⠀The Governor stepped off the humvee as the townsfolk dispersed back to their lives a little more paranoid than before. Cal followed after them, heading to the wall to check on the rotations, seeing everything was tightly fortified before turning in for the night.

AUTHOR'S NOTE —

I so badly want to speed run through this season but now with my new job and the fact I am sooooooo tired. So, here is this chapter since I forgot to update Sunday. I'm really really really excited for the next episode but also... not. 

ANYWAYS! I hope to update on Sunday <3 love you!!!

SONG: Wires by The Neighbourhood

Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment if you'd like. However, this is an all kind of reader safe space. So even if you ghost read or comment every chapter, I hope you know it means the world to me that you've come into this fic ♡ I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and until the next one.