"Tyreese, you down here?" Rick called out in the corridors near the boiler room.

"Rick, that you?" Tyreese called back. Rick and Daryl saw Tyreese approaching them with terror in his eyes. "You guys gotta see this."

"Come on, take a beat. There's something we need to ask you," Rick said.

"It can wait. Come on," he said leading them down a darkened corridor. "Look," he said as he pointed to a piece of wood with a rabbit, cut open, dissected, and pinned to the board.

"What the hell?" Daryl remarked as he took his flashlight and examined the board more closely.

"I was looking for fuel for the vehicles and I found this. Remember the rats at the fences? We got a psychopath living with us."

"Tyreese," Rick started to say.

"We have to find who is doing this, Rick. Do you think it was Carol before she . . . you know?" Tyreese speculated.

"I don't think it was Carol," Daryl concluded. He thought he might know who was doing this based on a previous conversation.

"Why?" Tyreese asked.

Daryl didn't get to answer him. A great rumbling explosion shook the facility.

"Come on," Daryl uttered and all three men went running.

Everyone was making their way out to see what the commotion was about.

"Get back!" Rick yelled at them as he ran to the fence. He didn't want anyone getting hurt. He wanted to see what the threat was. Although he had very good suspicion who it was.

There in the field on the other side of the fence was a line of vehicles and a tank. Rick, Daryl, and Tyreese looked out at the scene. On top of the tank stood a familiar face.

"Rick! Come down here. We need to talk," the Governor shouted up towards the prison. Rick hesitated.

"It's not up to me," he hollered back. "There's a committee now. They run this place."

"Is Hershel on the committee?" he asked. He waved his hand. Alisha brought out Hershel and had him kneel in front of the group. "What about Michonne? She on the council too?" Michonne was put next to Hershel.

Maggie and Beth were visibly shaken by the sight of their father being held captive. Rick was beside himself. Daryl shielded his eyes from the bright sun looking at Shawna. Shawna stared right back at him standing beside the red Jeep. She barely shook her head hoping he would see and understand that she didn't want to be standing on that side of the fence.

"I don't make decisions anymore," Rick yelled at the Governor.

"You're making the decisions today, Rick. Come on down here. Let's . . . let's have that talk."

Daryl kept his eye on Shawna who was now nodding her head. Rick touched Daryl's shoulder. He turned around to look at Rick. Daryl nodded in agreement for him to meet with the Governor. He understood Shawna's nod to mean it was the right thing to do.

Rick spoke quietly, "We can do this. Remember what Shawna said." He turned to Carl, "A'right?" Carl nodded. Rick walked through the gate and down towards the Governor.

"Daryl, Shawna's down there," Tyreese said with alarm.

"Yeah, I know," he replied turning to stare at her again.

"Is she . . .?" he inquired.

"Naw," Daryl spoke before he could finish. "Look at her rifle. It's pointed down, not at the prison."

"Maybe she's just not ready like the rest of them," Sasha interjected.

Daryl snarled, "She ain't one of them. I know her. I trust her." He stepped away from the fence.

"What are we going to do now with her down there?" Sasha asked Daryl.

"We can't take 'em all on," he replied. "We'll go through the admin building, through the woods like we planned. We ain't got the numbers no more. When's the last time someone checked the stash on the bus?"

"Day before yesterday," Sasha answered. "We were running low on rations then. We're lower now."

"Hey, we'll manage," Daryl responded, "Things go south, everyone heads for that bus. Let everybody know."

"What if everybody doesn't know when things go bad?" Tyreese questioned. "How long do we wait?"

"As long as we can," Daryl answered as he went back to the fence to look down at Shawna.

Rick approached the fence line by himself in front of the Governor's army. Shawna thought he seemed so vulnerable coming alone.

"Let 'em go right now," he began as he stopped a few feet from the fence, "I'll stay down here. Talk as long as you want. But you let 'em go. You got a tank. You don't need hostages."

"I do," Phillip retorted. "This is just to show you I'm serious, not to blast a hole in our new home. You and your people, you have 'til sundown to get out of here, or they die." He pointed out Hershel and Michonne as the ones who would perish but he was willing to produce firepower if it was necessary.

Shawna could see Rick was unsure of himself making this negotiation.

"Doesn't have to go down this way," Rick said nervously looking towards Hershel.

"I got more people, more firepower," the Governor said trying to strong arm him. "We need this prison. There it is," he added with a flourish. "It's not about the past. It's about right now."

"There are children here," Rick informed him. "They won't survive."

"I have a tank," the Governor said forcefully. Shawna could hear the frustration starting in his voice. "And I'm letting you walk away from here. What else is there to talk about?"

Rick chanced a glance at Shawna. He tried not to look alarmed by the bruises she sported. She turned away from his stare and glanced up towards the prison. She could see Daryl discreetly handing out firearms. She looked around at those around her. Everyone was paying attention to the Governor and Rick. No one noticed the prison group becoming armed. She smiled inwardly.

Rick was hesitating, or stalling. It was difficult to decipher. He looked uncomfortable standing there, being the person making the decisions when two of the people who led them towards that moment were now on the other side of the fence.

The Governor, Phillip, Brian, whoever this tyrant was, broke the silence saying, "I could shoot you all. You'd all shoot back. I know that. But we'll win and you'll be dead, all of you. Doesn't have to be like that. Like I said, it's your choice."

In the distance, a couple of walkers meandered out of the woods and towards the Governor's army. Phillip was irritated that they interrupted his moment. He turned his gun on them. The one that was closer, he shot in the head without a problem. The second was a bit farther and it took him two shots to down the walking corpse. He turned back around towards Rick.

"Noise will only draw more of them over. The longer you wait, the harder it will be for you to get out of here. You got maybe about an hour of sunlight left. I suggest you start packing," he stated still waiting for Rick to make a decision.

Rick didn't want anyone to die, but he didn't want to hand over the prison to the only person who truly needed to die in all of this. Maybe there was a chance the Governor would be inclined to another solution.

"We can all," he began, "We can all live together. There's enough room for all of us."

"More than enough," the Governor added. "But I don't think my family would sleep well knowing that you were under the same roof. They have seen what you are capable of." He glanced over at Shawna.

Rick followed his gaze. Now he understood her bruising. The Governor had made it look as though Shawna was beaten at the prison. He still needed to try to persuade the Governor to live peacefully here. At least, try to convince the Governor's people to come inside. Perhaps if the majority overruled the Governor he would have to accept it.

"We'd live in different cell blocks," Rick offered. "We'd never have to see each other 'til we're all ready."

Hershel turned towards the Governor and added, "It could work. You know it could."

"It could've. But it can't. Not after Woodbury. Not after Andrea. Not after Shawna."

"Look, I'm not saying it's gonna be easy. Fact is, it's gonna be a hell of a lot harder than standing here shooting at each other. But I don't think we have a choice."

"We don't. You do."

"We're not leaving," Rick stated firmly. The Governor gritted his teeth in frustration. "You try and force us, we'll fight back. Like you said, the gunshots will just bring more of them out. They'll take down the fences. Without the fences, this place is worthless. Now, we can all live in the prison or none of us can." This was the Rick Shawna knew.

The Governor jumped off the tank and went to a truck beside it. He reached in the door and pulled out Michonne's katana. He unsheathed it and walked over to Hershel.

"We'll fix the damn fences," he grumbled. He held the blade to the old man's throat. Shawna's heart sank. Rick took a step back. Shawna gripped her rifle wanting to send a bullet through Phillip's head but she knew it would only start a barrage of bullets.

"You," Rick said pointing to Tara, "You, in the ponytails. Is this what you want? Is this what any of you want?"

"What we want is what you got. Period," Mitch said from his perch in the tank. "Time for you to leave, asshole."

"Look, I fought him before. And after, we took in his old friends. They've become leaders in what we have here ," Rick stated. He glanced over at Shawna then returned to looking at everyone else. "Now you put down your weapons, walk through those gates, you're one of us." It looked as though some of the Governor's people were contemplating what Rick was offering. Shawna saw a glimmer of hope that what Rick was promoting could actually work. "We let go of all of it, and nobody dies." Rick was now looking at the Governor. Shawna looked over at Phillip waiting to see if he was won over. "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." Again, Shawna found Rick looking at her. He looked back at the Governor. "But we can still come back. We're not too far gone. We get to come back. I know, we all can change." Shawna stared at Rick. She hoped he was right.

The Governor's jaw clenched as he thought of Rick's words. He had tried to change, to become the man he once was before the epidemic. Now he was standing where he had once stood before, selfishly savory in the superiority he was swathed in. He screamed, "Liar!" With one swift motion he drew back the sword and struck Hershel's throat. Shawna wanted to scream out. Rick found the voice instead.

"No!" Rick yelled withdrawing his gun and fired towards the Governor. The shot missed. It triggered everyone, on both sides, to start firing.

Shawna pivoted and shot at the Governor. He moved at the last second and her bullet grazed his shoulder. The governor vanished from her sight beside the tank. She moved back quickly so others would not notice what she had attempted to do. She hid behind the Jeep avoiding the onslaught of gun fire from the prison. One of the men ran behind the line of vehicles looking for cover. Shawna raised her rifle and pulled the trigger. He fell to the ground. Traveling along the backside of the vehicles while everyone else was firing towards the prison.

Shawna peered around the backend of the tank and saw Tara cowering. She shook her head and went further. Looking around the rear of another vehicle she discovered Michonne trying to cut her ties on a license plate but failed as one of the Governor's men ran towards her. Michonne tripped him and stepped on his throat. A second later a bullet went through his head just missing Michonne's foot. She looked up to see Shawna who had her gun raised to her. Shawna stepped up to the woman.

"Follow my lead," Shawna said quietly. "Get in the vehicle!" she yelled at her.

Once both women were in the red and white truck, Shawna closed the door behind them. Shawna briefly looked around them as she dislodged her knife from its sheath and cut the ties around Michonne's wrists. Michonne rubbed them as the two just stared at one another for a moment.

"I know you couldn't do anything," Michonne said. "Let's just hope all our preparations aren't in vain."

Shawna's chin trembled but she managed to nod her assent.

"Hey, you have to be strong, just like you told everyone else. Don't fail us now," Michonne said seeing the tears forming in her eyes. Shawna blinked and they escaped.

"It's not that," Shawna spoke, her voice cracking. She rubbed the tears off her cheek and looked into Michonne's eyes. "Hershel."

"I know," Michonne said her eyes glistening as well. "We can't think about that right now."

"You're right," Shawna said swallowing hard and shaking herself. She had to harden herself to what was going on. She grunted in anger.

There was movement outside the vehicle. "Get down," Shawna told Michonne. Michonne got down on the floor while Shawna ducked down in the seat.

"Go through the fence in your cars. Get your guns. We go in. Kill them all!" the Governor yelled. Her mind went directly to Daryl.

Shawna peered out watching the tank move forward. It took out the fences like playing cards. Those not in vehicles followed on foot continuing to fire at the people in the prison, their friends. Shawna grabbed onto Michonne to help her off the floor. Before she could get out of the truck, Shawna pressed her knife in the other woman's hand.

Michonne smiled and said "Keep it. I have one. I just need to get it back." Shawna nodded.

"I have to get to Daryl," Shawna said. Michonne nodded. Shawna wanted to say 'see you later,' but she couldn't bring herself to say just in case she didn't. She went out one door and Michonne went out the other.

Shawna was the last to move forward with the Governor's army on foot. Making sure no one could notice what she was doing, she aimed her weapon at the backs of the Governor's soldiers making their way up to the prison. Firing a few rounds, she hit them and they fell. Only when she came up close to another soldier did she raise her gun to the prison acting as though she were firing at them. Then she saw him, Phillip, beside the overturned bus. She raised her weapon as he reached around the corner of it to shoot towards the prison. The tank let off a round which made her flinch. She then looked back at the bus raising her weapon but before she could get the round off, Rick tackled him to the ground. She stopped in her tracks. She couldn't risk hitting Rick. She knew he could hold his own and possibly do what she had failed to do twice already.

The tank then busted through the gate nearest the prison. It let off a round hitting the prison wall. When the tank came to a halt just inside the fence, the Governor's soldiers that were following the tank for protection, snaked around it. The fire fight was now inside the prison's last defense system. For the time being, Shawna hid by the guard tower and took out the Governor's soldiers from behind enemy lines. She heard a growl from behind her. Turning around abruptly, two walkers made their way towards her. The gun blasts had already attracted walkers into the area. Taking out her knife she approached them knifing each in the head. She went around the tower to the left to look through the fence hoping to catch a glimpse of Daryl. She still couldn't see him from her point of view. Again, using the tower as a shield she fired her weapon towards the Governor's soldiers.

With a loud click, Shawn realized she was out of ammunition. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the extra magazine that Daryl had handed her so many weeks ago. She released the old magazine and replaced it with the full one stashing the empty one in her pocket. She crept around the tower towards the tank and looked around it. She caught a glimpse of Daryl fighting off the Governor's people before she had to retreat. His gun fire came too close to where she had been standing near the tank. One of the soldiers retreated as well to reload his weapon. Shawna didn't care anymore who saw her, she raised her weapon as he looked at her and shot him between the eyes. She heard the tank let loose another round into the prison. The blast shook the ground she stood on. She made her way back to the other side of the tower where she could shoot through the fence at the soldiers who had made their way in. A grenade went off to her right. She saw Tara sauntered off holding her weapon down.

Shawna heard Maggie shouting to her left. As she glanced over, Maggie hunkered down with Bob and Sasha behind one of the cars they had set up as a bulwark, a shot rang out in front of her. In the distance, she could see Bob fall. Shawna turned to see the shooter. It was Karen.

"Karen, what are you doing?" Shawna questioned. "You're shooting at the wrong people."

"You aren't the only one Phillip had on the inside," she said smiling wickedly. Karen pointed her weapon at Shawna.

"Yeah, well at least I chose the right side," Shawna spoke and shot Karen in the head.

In the distance, Shawna could hear the bus pulling away. Someone was leaving without the rest of them. She looked around, she couldn't see Daryl. Maybe he was on the bus. When she turned around three walkers had made their way up the slop. She had no where to go with the tower on her left and the fencing to her back. With adrenaline coursing through her, she pulled out her knife and slaughtered them. She needed to get around the tank and inside the prison fence. As she walked around the guard tower, she saw the sea of walkers that had now entered the yard. If this battle went on for too much longer, both sides would be fighting two separate armies. She took her knife to the ones closest to her. She made quick work of the ones in her path to the tank with her rifle. She knew that if she could get into the guard tower, there were extra bullets for her gun. That's where she wanted to be if everything had gone as planned, which it hadn't.

She made her way around the tank knifing a walker before finding the door to the tower. Just inside she had laid a box of bullets. Using the slit of light coming in through the crack in the door, she reloaded one of her magazines. When it was full, she rammed it into place. She took the time to reload her second magazine as well. There were still more bullets in the box so dumped it into her pockets. Then she looked up and sighed heavily thankful for a reprieve. A thought graced her mind as she gazed up. She stood and realize she may have better advantage point if she climbed to the top of the tower. Maybe then, she could finally find Daryl.

As she made her way up the steps, the tank fired a round close to her. From inside the small enclosed space, the blast reverberated around her quaking the stairs beneath her. The sound was deafening. She heard Mitch yell, "Grenade!" Then there was another explosion. The tank was disarmed. Again, the sound echoed through the guard tower disabling more of her hearing. She had to sit on the step to stop herself from falling over. Her equilibrium was knocked off kilter. It took her a while to stabilize herself. When the ringing in her ears had mostly subsided, it was like listening through tubes. Sounds were muffled and distant. She noticed that most of the gunfire had died down tremendously. Not wanting to take any chances due to her disorientation, she stayed in the tower. She thought she heard voices outside but wasn't sure if they were friend or foe. Only a few shots could be heard here and there. She remained for a few moments more to be certain that she could support herself and that the gunfire had indeed ceased. There were three more shots nearby. She quickly realized, there was nothing left. That was the end.

Slowly, Shawna emerged from the tower. As she walked around aimlessly, she examined every dead face on the ground, every walker roaming looking for anyone she knew. She discovered the dead body of Teresa, Paul, Chad, and Teresa's son. Anger and sorrow filled her with each step she took. Anger mostly. When she passed a walker, she stabbed it in the head, but it didn't stop there. She kept stabbing and stabbing. She growled with each blow. When she finally stopped, her hands were covered with blood. It might as well have been the blood of her friends. She had lead the wolf right to the lambs. Everyone was gone, either dead or missing.

Shawna never found Daryl is the faces of the dead and undead. She hoped that he was either on the bus, or escaped somehow. She didn't want to think the worst. She wouldn't allow it.

She had drifted unconsciously to the grassy yard where she once shared a kiss with Rick. She glanced at the garden she had helped start, now being trampled by walkers. She looked over at the tower where she was shot. Good and bad memories flooded her. This was her nightmare coming to fruition. Tears started to well up in her eyes.

Shawna made her way over to the path leading out of the prison taking out walkers as she went. A dark figure laying on the ground caught her eye. His lifeless body lay there with a chest wound and bullet to the head. She stood over him visibly fuming, her chest heaving with each breath.

"Is this what you wanted?" Shawna yelled at him. "IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED? You have nothing!" She knew he could no longer hear her but she had to blame someone. "You were right. We couldn't live here together. Because I would have killed you in your sleep. Looks like someone beat me to it."

Shawna walked away and made her way towards the woods battling flesh eaters as she went with rifle and knife. It took her a while to realize that she was following the same path she had taken to be by herself after Carol's death. She strolled through the forest alone with only her shadow for company. Sometimes a walker found her. She had to use her knife many times trying to save her bullets. The light was beginning to fade fast. It would be dark soon. At the same time the last bit of light disappeared, she found the same copse of pine trees she had climbed. The same copse of trees Daryl and Rick had lost her trail. The same copse of trees she had come to, to be alone. No one would be searching for her this time. A flicker of hope in her mind burned like a candle in the wind that Daryl might think to come here to look for her, or maybe even Rick. It was a weak flame. Just as before, she climbed up into the trees. It would have to do for the night.

Finding a branch high enough so walkers couldn't get her, Shawna perched trying to secure herself from falling. It was a loss cause. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. Suddenly, she let go. She let go of all her emotions. The tears she had been holding back released in a flood. A howl escaped her throat as her head tilted back. She hugged the tree hoping this was all still her nightmare. Hoping she would wake up with Daryl laying by her side. Her crying was drawing walkers like a moth to a light. A guttural gurgle brought her back to her senses. She was still not safe here. The walkers came closer to the copse of trees. Sobs still shook her shoulders. She let them come. That small flame inside her blew out. Maybe now it was her time to go? Maybe she should just climb down? She had nothing left, nothing to hold on to.

But there was something, a feeling deep inside her heart like a torch helping her home. Something deep inside that told her that there was more. A voice inside her, not her dead husband's, a different voice, told her Daryl wasn't dead. She would find him again because she was still alive too.