Two hours later and I was sat in a brightly lit room, relaxing on a comfortable swivel chair and swinging myself around out of both boredom and childish amusement.

Whatever the scientist had approached him about earlier must have been important, since he'd been in the laboratory with him ever since, other than leaving momentarily to instruct me to wait for him at his office.

That was where I sat now, and had been waiting with a gradually decreasing level of patience for at least twenty minutes, and now looked casually around the room to pass the time.

It was a very luxurious place. Light rays filtered between open blinds through a large glass facade, where they cast down upon a varnished oaken desk upon which sat a computer, keyboard and mouse on one side, and a small globe on the other. A fish tank was built-in to the wall, where a colorful array of aquatic life could be seen inside. 

It looked like the office of some elaborate Bond-villain.

There was something else on the desk too. A strange, small phial, containing an unusual blue substance that glistened mystically in the sunlight. 

I hadn't considered reaching out and holding it to inspect it. This was the Governor's office. But it had been twenty minutes, and he was yet to turn up, and my curiosity was beginning to overwhelm my self-restraint.

I'm sure if I'm quick enough, it doesn't matter if I--

As I began to reach over and inspect the phial, the door to my left was opened abruptly, and I quickly jolted back to my original seating position, awkwardly crossing my arms in an attempt to act casual as the Governor entered the room.

He regarded me with a look of confusion, and noticed that I was staring at the phial sat on his desk.

"Oh, this?" he motioned to the strange container, walking over to it and shaking it gently, "it's only in the trial stages right now, but we hope it's gonna become something big soon."

I nodded in understanding, just thankful that I didn't find myself being shouted at after less than a day in Woodbury.  

"So... Why am I here?" I asked in confusion as the Governor stared outside for several seconds before finally sighing and taking a seat at the other side of his desk. He then opened a drawer beside him and withdrew a small voice recorder, placing it on the table.

"It's customary here to interview every new arrival," the Governor explained, "we need to find out about you background, relations, origins et cetera. We had a bad experience once, and I'm not taking any chances in letting it happen again."

He must be referring to what happened with his daughter. I can't believe he's managed to stay so composed and sane after that. I can't believe I have either.

"I didn't want to ask you straight away, since you'd obviously had quite a shock," he continued, motioning to the stump of my left arm.

Somehow, I had almost forgotten about it. 

Thinking about it and looking at it still seemed so surreal, as though I was hallucinating. Everything else in my body told me I was: it didn't hurt at all, there was no blood dripping out or flesh hanging off. Hell, I could still almost feel my arm.

But it was gone. That was irreversible.

"Sorry," the Governor apologized after several seconds of my peering down at my arm, "reminded you about it did I?"

I replied with a distracted "yeah."

"You know we have pretty advanced medical facilities here," he explained to me, as I averted my attention from my arm to face him, "we could attach a prosthetic forearm in a few days."

My eyes lit up at that statement. 

"Yeah," I nodded with a grin of relief, "yeah, I'd like that."

"Good," the Governor smirked at my response, "good. Now, let's get on with this interview. I'm afraid you're going to have to tell me everything from the first day and onward, and I have a good bullshit detector - as you already know - so don't lie to me."

What would he do if I did...?

"Day 1124 since the outbreak. This is Phillip Blake, recording an interview with recent arrival Riley Palmer, encountered and restored on Day 1123."

'Restored'? 

Is that what he thinks this is? Taken broken people with worthless lives and 'restoring' them; giving them a reason to live? Back when we first encountered one another in that forest, he told me I "looked like a broken man."

Well in this interview it looks like he's going to find out that he's wrong.

I told him everything. From my abusive history with my father, to the day when I lost both him and my mother in the blink of an eye, to my years of solitude and depression, to the point where I met Carl and the group, and fell in love, and our encounter with Simon.

And then I reached the point where we arrived at Alexandria. 

I had never openly told him that I was part of the Alexandrian community, but I prayed that upon mentioning it, he would offer to take me back. After all, he would be travelling there to discuss trade deals soon anyway, according to Rick at least.

I didn't want to have to ask him abruptly or rudely. I would hate to sound ungrateful for him saving my life and providing me with a community like this. But as I said before, I would do whatever was necessary to find my way back to Carl.

"I was out on a supply run with Carl and another member of the group, and then we... Had a talk."

"A 'talk'?"

"It was about us. About... being a couple. A gay couple. I'd never talked to him about it before - not properly. We were both getting more and more short-tempered recently, and I think Carl was too scared to bring it up."

"Ah. I see."

"The woodland was so dense we didn't see the walkers until they were right next to us. They heard us talking, came walking over, and then I made a stupid mistake. One of the walkers jumped me, and I fired a shot by accident."

"That wasn't a good idea. How did Carl react?"

"He was... Surprisingly forgiving about it. If it had been anyone else he wouldn't have let them hear the end of it, but I think he still felt guilty about bringing up the whole sexuality thing earlier."

"I see. Love is love, right?"

"Right."

"So what happened then, Riley?"

"The walkers were everywhere. Outnumbering us and overwhelming us. I knew it was my fault - I was the idiot that fired that damn gunshot. So I made a split-second decision; I ran into the walkers and fired all the bullets I have. I fought them off... Somehow."

"Carl and the other group member got away?"

"Yeah."

"And you got bitten in the process?" 

"Yeah. That's right."

"Some could consider that to be a stupid decision, you know. You could have just tried to find a way out together, instead of risking your life and leaving Carl."

"Yeah, but... I did what I did. For him. Like you said, love is love."

The Governor smirked, "that's the answer I was looking for."

There was a short pause and I breathed heavily in relief, before realizing that Phillip had not yet switched off the recorder.

"So, Riley," he continued, leaning forwards in an almost intimidating manner, "this deviates from the standard interview procedure, but yours is hardly a 'standard' story. I have a question to ask, and I want you to answer honestly. Would you like to go back to Alexandria, and why?"

"Uhh... Honestly... Yes. Yes I would go back. Because Carl's there. I like it here, but...he's not here. I want to go back because he probably thinks I'm dead right now, and he's probably telling himself it's his fault. I won't feel good - I won't feel... complete - until I can tell him that it's not. Until I can hold him in my arms again and tell him that I love him."

The Governor nodded, and switched off the video recorder.

"Right," he clapped his hands together firmly in a conclusion to the interview, "that's the end of that. You can go over to Jay's now, if you want. He's probably waiting for you."

I was about to reply that it wouldn't be that late yet, until I peered at the clock and surprised myself to discover that our conversation had lasted over an hour. 

"Thank you," I smiled to Phillip, before leaving his stylish office and walking down the hallway. 

Peering out the window, I saw that the sun was now beginning to descend below the horizon, casting a mystical hue of orange and pink across the sky.

It was a fitting end to a very unexpected today. 

I had kissed Carl one final time this morning, and then I had almost died for him. But somehow I had survived, once again, and now the world I lived in seemed bigger and more optimistic than ever before.

-END OF ACT TWO-