Tiptoe Through the Tulips

“Welcome to Woodbury.” The southern accent rang out, his tall tanned body decorated with a simple black suit of good repair. After the herd has passed we had continued on foot, shortly running into some large men, silenced guns and axes intact, the body of Walkers surrounding them.

It was the one tied to a tree that worried me.

“Are we prisoners?” Andrea questioned warily, the men still surrounding us as they had guided us towards the town hall,
“Not at all...” the man declared, forcing an unconvincing smile onto his face.

“I would feel less like one if we weren’t so heavily guarded.” I snapped, irritated and put out by the strange new world we had entered. The streets were pristine, clean, well kept. They had water, electricity, people walked around almost normally.

It was like a small patch of paradise, a place the apocolpyse hadn’t touched.

It was just this guy and his henchman that gave me the creeps.

“Of course, nobody means any offence, you just need to be cautious nowadays Miss.” I frowned at his overly formal tone, irritated at how happy and excited Tyreese seemed with the place,

“This is amazing!” he gushed, “How have you managed to stay so unaffected?” The man began to talk, but I let my attention drift, making my way to the window and staring out onto the main street, the cobbled roads making me think of Victorian times. The wall surrounding the small time was high, and I doubted it had been erected before the outbreak.

Even with it however it was amazing how unaffected this place seemed, it intrigued me and I was determined to get to the bottom of it.

“We met someone from here,” I said suddenly, the savage group I had imaged Randall with did not at all fit with what was in front of me, “I don’t know if you remember him, he was young, early twenties,” the men all looked at me and I stepped forward, “Randall? Remember him?” One of the men reacted visibly, his eyes narrowing at me.

“You were at that town weren’t you?” I nodded, the Governor’s eyes narrowing at our encounter, “We had to leave and... is he alive?” the guilt consumed his face and I felt a flood of pity for the man.

Perhaps the group had not been as heartless as I had assumed.

“We saved him,” I said, un-eager to tell him the whole tale, “But we lost him a while ago when we were attacked by a large group of Walkers.” the man looked downcast and I felt my heart drop for him. The governor coughed, breaking the moment and forcing another plastic smile across his features,

“I remember Randall, we have already grieved for him, but I will tell the town he lived and died better than believed.” Andrea’s eyes were uneasy, flickering between myself and the tall man.

“Your helicopter is what attracts them, the noise. You killed a lot of people with your stupidity.” his face grew hard and I ignored Tyreese hiss at me to stop, to show respect to the man who was keeping this establishment and therefore us safe.

“I think it would be a good idea for us to rest and adjust.” Michonne’s gentle voice stated, causing the man to nod and the others to indicate for us to follow them. I complied with another look back at the ‘Governor’ his face had a dark edge that sent shivers down my spine.

__

“I don’t trust him!” I argued, once again the group had descended to screaming at each other, the stress and fatigue didn’t seem to disappear even as we slept or found somewhere seemingly safe.

Andrea nodded, a slight pout on her tanned face as she stared at the wall, “It seems too good to be true,” she turned to meet Tyreese annoyed face, “And in my books that is never a good sign.”

“Why do I fucking bother?” the tall man exploded, jumping up from his seat, “I have fought to stay alive. I have saved your fucking life Ariella, we worked together to get somewhere safe and we are here. Why can you not just be fucking grateful. We have a chance to live, to not worry about dying 24/7.”

“This place wont remain untouched forever,” I countered “And it just doesn’t seem right, like Andrea said. It’s survived too well.”

“Will you stop being a fucking pessimist?” he roared, his shoulders squared, “The only reason, we and we know it fucking is that you won’t just see how good a chance this is for us is because you’re still obsessed with the hillbilly.”

I felt my mouth drop open,
“Don’t you dare call him that Tyreese.”

He scoffed, his tone becoming sarcastic, “It doesn’t matter. Whatever little fantasy you had of running from the zombies and having little half wit babies are stupid. He left you there. He didn’t come back, we were there and the way you said to go for two days and nothing. He doesn’t care. He moved on.”

I winced as his words struck me. But he wasn’t done yet. “I was the one who saved you, they would have fucking slaughtered you if I was there!”

Andrea stepped in concerned, “You told me it wasn’t that bad Ariella.” I groaned, despair practically flooding me as Tyreese continued.

“They.Raped.Her.” He spat, and I could imagine the blood flushing from Andrea’s face, “They would have done more if I hadn’t been there. I don’t get why you can’t accept he doesn’t care Ariella. We need to stick together; we need to worry about us. This is a good fucking place, and you cannot risk yourself because of some ridiculous dream that doesn’t care.”

I gulped, the tears had filled my eyes and my throat was clenched, sobs threatening to rack through my body. I pushed past Andrea’s hands, her words mixed, trying to understand why I hadn’t told her.

I ran to the door, slamming it open into the wall and leaving the room, the tears now coating my face as I used my hand to guide me along the wall.

I hate Tyreese.

I hate here.

And I fucking hate Daryl Dixon for abandoning me.