C H A P T E R  1 8

❛ separated ❜

QUINN

     SHE WAS SEATED ON HER BED, LEGS FOLDED BENEATH HER and eyes focused on the book opened in her lap. After finally managing to get her breakfast yesterday she'd returned to the library and picked out a book to read. While Andrea was trying to make up her mind of whether or not she wanted to stay, Quinn had decided she had better things to do than be mad about it. And so she allowed herself a moment of peace and decided to dive into a book again.

For a moment she had seriously considered reading the Bible, if only to have more means of making fun of Merle but finally she'd settled on a copy of The Lord of the Rings. The series had always been a favorite of hers as a child and as she got lost into the story once again it wasn't hard to imagine why. If only the world ending had turned people into Hobbits instead of walking corpses...

Her peace was abruptly disturbed however when Michonne entered the room, all but throwing the door wide open. Quinn jumped back, startled and then frowned when she noticed the sword in her hand. 'What did you do?' She muttered.

Michonne sat down on her bed and reached behind her back. She held out a belt filled with four chinese ring daggers attached. Quinn basically leaped off the bed, eagerly taking a hold of her beloved weapons. Carefully she took all of them out of their sheats to examine them. As far as she could tell the blades appeared unharmed and in the same state they were when she came here. She couldn't help the small smile forming on her lips. Never could she have imagined she'd come to care so much for a weapon. But they had become a symbol, a sign that she could take care of herself and fight for what she cared about. Something she had never been able to do before...

'We have to go,' Michonne said, her voice tense.

Quinn looked up at her and nodded then. She'd been ready to go from the very moment they had arrived. 'Agreed, but we can't leave without Andrea.'

Michonne didn't reply. Instead she sighed deeply, her hands clenched into fists as a thousand thoughts seemed to race through her mind.

Her heart started beating faster in her chest upon seeing Michonne's reaction. 'You're not thinking about leaving her here, are you?'

'She's enchanted by the Governor-' she all but spat out the name '-hanging on to every word he says. She wouldn't leave him even if he burned this whole place down.'

She sighed and lifted her hands to rub her eyes. She agreed about Andrea being enchanted by the Governor but that didn't mean she was willing to leave her behind. When she finally lowered her hands, her gaze went to her precious weapons again. 'How'd you get them?' She asked.

Michonne followed her gaze, her eyes resting on her sword and Quinn's daggers. She didn't get a chance to answer however when a very angry looking Andrea entered the room.

'We gotta talk,' she said, closing the door behind her.

'We gotta go,' Michonne corrected her, standing up from the bed and walking towards one of their bags, starting to put their stuff inside of it.

Andrea crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back against the wall. 'The Governor told me what happened.'

Michonne didn't reply and Quinn felt herself grow more curious and worried with each passing second. 'What happened?' She asked, looking at Andrea.

She gave a small shake of her head, sighing deeply as she replied. 'Apparently she broke into the Governor's apartment, taking back our weapons and then killed a few walkers they held captive.'

'Why do they have walkers captive?' Quinn asked, frowning.

'I-,' Andrea scoffed then shook her head. 'That's not the point. Michonne you can't do stuff like that, you're freaking people out. You're freaking me out! We're not prisoners here!'

That made Michonne stop in her movements before throwing a bag on the ground with a frustrated sigh. 'No one who comes here leaves!'

'What are you talking about?' Andrea replied, her voice rising. 'It's safe! There's food, there's shelter, there's people!'

'That's what they show you but you can't leave unless they make you!'

'You're not making any sense,' Andrea said but Quinn knew exactly what she was talking about. Why else wasn't Merle allowed outside the walls to go look for his brother? His own flesh and blood was out there and he wasn't even allowed to go and look for him. It wasn't okay, not in the slightest.

'Mich, maybe you need to sit down,' Andrea said, walking over to a very distressed looking Michonne.

'And you need to listen to me,' she snapped.

'And you gotta give me more to go on! We got a good thing going here!'

'I thought this was temporary?' Quinn said, standing up from the bed, looking at her friend and wondering how it was possible she didn't feel even a slightly bit suspicious of the whole situation. All Michonne's actions showed was that this town was even more messed up than they had imagined. Why else would they have walkers captive? It most certainly wasn't to cuddle them.

'And I think we need this!' Andrea said, turning on her heels to face Quinn. 'Why don't you want to give this place a real shot?'

'I think that's pretty obvious,' Quinn replied but her reaction only made Andrea shake her head.

'I tried,' Michonne said.

'Breaking into houses that is not trying, that's sabotaging.'

Michonne took a deep breath, walking in a small circle before turning back to Andrea. 'This place is not what they say it is.'

Silence filled the room as Andrea looked confused back at her companion before turning to look at Quinn. 'You think so too?'

She nodded, expression grave. 'Something feels off.'

Andrea tilted her head, waiting for an explanation.

'Earlier I heard Merle and the Governor talk. He wanted to go out and look for his brother. The Governor wouldn't let him, coming up with some excuse about this place falling apart if Merle would leave.'

Andrea put a string of hair behind her ear, not looking very impressed.

'Come on, that's complete bullshit! All that truly makes sense is that he doesn't want anyone to leave,' Quinn stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

Finally she caved. 'Alright, fine then, if you both want us to leave, we'll leave.'

Quinn offered her a relieved smile before quickly starting to gather her stuff. She put the belt with her daggers back around her waist and quickly put her shoes on. She didn't hesitate to stuff the copy of Lord of the Rings into her bag along with her clothes. They were done packing within ten minutes. Not only because they didn't have much stuff to begin with, but also because they had routinely done this the entire winter.

With their bags swung around their shoulders the three women made their way out of the building and down the street. People were laughing, sharing drinks and telling stories. All of it made Quinn feel sick to her stomach. The lie of peace this place offered made her deeply uncomfortable. And she wasn't planning on staying in a place that made her look over her shoulder all the time.

Sadly, they were stopped by an all too familiar voice.

'Hey, hey, hey, girls! Where are y'all off to in such a hurry?'

Andrea stopped walking, beginning to turn around but Michonne grabbed her shoulder firmly and pushed her forwards.

Quinn bit her tongue, trying her hardest not to look at Merle as he made his way after them. But it became a little harder to ignore him when he jumped right in front of them, blocking their exit. They were so close, only a few more steps...

'Hey, where are you going, breakin my heart like that?'

'We're leaving,' Michonne snapped.

Merle frowned at them. 'It's almost curfew, I'd have to arrange an escort.'

Quinn raised her eyebrows at Andrea, but her friend kept her gaze focused on Merle, trying to figure out his real intentions.

'I mean, the party's still going on!' Merle tried again.

But when none of them moved he gave a slight nod of his head. 'Alright, wait here a sec.' Then he turned and walked away, heading up to the wall, taking the attention of one of the guys standing guard.

Andrea suddenly walked forwards, a seed of doubt now planted into her mind. 'The Governor told us we were free to go whenever we wanted.'

Merle turned to her, raising his hands, his expression suddenly stone cold. 'Sweetheart, nothing personal here but you're gonna have to step back.'

Slowly Andrea turned around, making her way back to the two of them, a confused look on her face.

'See?' Michonne mumbled. 'There's always a reason why we can't leave yet.'

Their blond companion genuinely looked concerned now but that look turned into confusion when one of the men on the wall shouted. 'Clear!'

Quinn looked at the gates, seeing Merle lean against one of the huge doors. He gestured towards them. 'Now, if I was y'all I'd find some shelter before nightfall.' Then he turned around, opening the gates wide, so the street behind became visible.

She felt every bone in her body tell her to run, to go and never look back and she was about to take a step forwards when she noticed Michonne frowning suspiciously at the sight of freedom.

'They knew we were coming, this is all for show,' she mumbled.

'Do you hear yourself?' Andrea questioned. 'Why would they bother?'

'Ladies?'

'Close the gate,' Andrea yelled over her shoulder.

'No!' Quinn shouted back at the man.

Andrea looked furious now. 'I begged the Governor to let us stay,' she said, her voice shaking.

'We didn't ask for that,' Quinn said, shaking her head. She was becoming impatient. Her freedom was so close and once again Andrea had started to doubt.

'So, you wanna run around out there, fighting walkers and biting twigs for dinner?' Andrea shot back.

'We held our own,' Michonne said.

'Eight months!' Andrea shouted, biting her lip before speaking again, softer this time. 'Eight months we spend on the road, moving from place to place, scavenging for food, living in a meat locker. That was no life. I'm tired.' Her voice broke, as she turned to look at the ground, blinking away her tears before turning back to her companions. 'I don't have another eight months in me, not like that. And you...'

Silence fell and Quinn could feel her heart drumming against her ribcage in dread of her next words.

'What about me?' Michonne asked slowly.

'I'm afraid you're gonna disappear,' Andrea whispered. Then she turned to look at Quinn. 'And you still look like shit, how do you expect to survive out there?'

Quinn didn't reply. What was she supposed to say? There wasn't anything left to say to convince Andrea this place wasn't safe. She even went as far as to tell Andrea about her past, bringing her father into the mix. The Governor reminded her of him and that was enough reason for her to get the hell out of here.

'Isn't this the kind of place we always talked about?' Andrea asked. 'A refuge, that idea is what kept us going.'

Michonne sighed. 'Are you coming or not?'

Andrea looked at Quinn, maybe hoping for some sort of support but Quinn didn't even blink. She had made her choice, she was with Michonne on this.

Pain flashed through Andrea's eyes, her mouth pulled into a thin line. 'Don't do this. Don't give me an ultimatum, not after everything.'

'Are you coming?' Quinn repeated, though not entirely able to keep her voice from shaking. 'Or not?'

Andrea shook her head but she was no longer able to look at either of them.

What happened then was the exact thing Quinn thought about but pushed back into the depths of her mind each time. Pain tore at her heart as Michonne started walking to the gate, leaving a frustrated Andrea behind.

And she stood in the middle, her bag around her shoulders, ready to leave and yet her feet remained glued to the ground. She didn't want to leave Andrea alone in a place where she'd have no one watching her back. But she knew staying also meant living in a place with people she would never be able to trust. And that thought was what made her legs move forward, her eyes focused on the road before her, refusing to even look at Merle as she passed him.

Andrea called out their names and it set her heart on fire with a pain that was unfamiliar to her and yet managed to hurt her like she had never been hurt before.

The sound of the gate closing behind her echoed over the street as her feet made her run to catch up with Michonne.

They were back to where they started.

Just the two of them.

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