Chapter Text
Andrea curses as the pliers slip from her toes once again when her foot starts to cramp. It's her nerves, and her skin-crawling paranoia that Milton is going to turn any moment now, that's affecting her right now. The desperation she feels is a stark contrast to what she felt at the Disease Center; she has the biggest desire to live that she would give almost anything to survive this.
She spends a moment to take a calming breath, shuddering though it is, purposefully looking to the corner of the room away from Milton's corpse.
It's okay, just focus, you can do this.
She looks down to her feet and inches her feet closer to the tool, determined to get it this time around.
Between the feet, yes. Now, make sure you've actually got it, nice and steady. Got it! Lift slowly, at least to the footrest.
There's the clang of metal on metal as the pliers drop onto the footrest, and Andrea sighs in relief. She's just that little bit closer to getting free, but it feels like the world has suddenly righted itself. She allows herself one more break, flexing her toes and breathing deeply, psyching herself up. She has one last glance at Milton that she couldn't help, showing him exactly as he was, before she turns her attention back to her mission at hand. Or foot, whatever.
She manages to grip the pliers once more between her toes on her right foot, and slowly brings them up, carefully, steadily, to her hand.
Almost there… Yes!
Andrea smiles, the action strained and small, but it's short-lived as she quickly looks at the corpse against the wall again, just to be sure. There's no movement, and so she gets to work, one-hand prying the pliers in between the chains and furiously moving backwards and forward, trying to put enough stress on the thin metal so it will snap. She lets out a small, frustrated growl when the link doesn't seem to be affected at all, and decides to twist the pliers. She's careful though; to lose the pliers at this point would almost be like signifying the end, and she won't have that.
She looks closer towards the cuffs, sensing that she's almost got it and begins with a renewed vigour. A sound that's not from her causes her head to snap towards Milton. She waits with baited breath, knowing she didn't imagine it. Sure enough, the tell-tale gravelly draw of air into lungs alerts her to the fact that her time has just about run out, and she's got to move now.
With frantic movements, she begins wrestling with the pliers even as the walker starts moving, letting out sounds of distress. She's finally snapped the chain on her left hand when it gets to its feet and so she starts on the right cuff. She yells out, feeling the adrenaline and fear racing through her whole body, lending her strength to finally, finally get that damn handcuff free, and she stands up just as the walker reaches her.
Andrea brings her arms up and gives it a hard shove, sending it back stumbling and arms outreached for her, buying her more time. She still has the pliers in hand, and she tries to figure out a way for her to kill the walker. The obvious thing to do is to drive the tool through the eye socket, but that means she had to get close, risking her missing completely and being bitten. What she would do for a damn knife.
The walker has recollected itself and drags its feet towards her again. She grasps the pliers in one hand and strikes before it's within arm's reach, bringing her hand up to steady its movements enough so she can accurately hit him. She draws her other hand back and swiftly brings it down with a cry, burying the tool deep into its eye. It lets out a final groan, and Andrea makes sure it's dead by pulling the weapon out with a squelch, before driving it back in. A sob escapes as she pulls herself away and lets the body fall to the ground with a heavy thud, followed by the sound of pliers hitting the floor.
It's then that she collapses, exhausted and death no longer an immediate threat. She drags herself away from the corpse, scooting back until her back hits the wall. Now that her life is no longer in danger, she feels every bruise, every little cut keenly, as well as the ever present bone-deep weariness that's only been worsened with the Governor's treatment.
She's content though. The discomfort means she's alive, and that's worth the pain. It means there's still the possibility that she'll be able to see Michonne and all of the others again.
She'd try to escape, but she knows from days of staring hopelessly at the door that it only opens from the outside, and even if she was able to get out, then she'd no doubt have to either sneak past or fight the remaining residents of Woodbury, and she doesn't quite have the energy for that after fighting off a walker. It doesn't help that she's had no food for a few days, and no water for one.
She's dozing in and out of consciousness when the scrape of metal brings her to attention and the fear spikes viciously in her chest before she hears her friend and then it's beating fast for entirely different reasons.
"Andrea!" Michonne is kneeling in front of her, katana thrown to the side, and Andrea's heart leaps all the way into her throat at the sight of her friend's sparkling brown eyes, mouth upturned in the biggest grin she's ever seen on her. A soft hand is brought up to cup her cheek and she leans forward to rest her head against Michonne's forehead.
"Mich," she breathes, closing her eyes, feeling at last safe.
It takes her a moment to realise that there are others in the room with them but she can't stop the smile on her face when Michonne refuses to move away, instead clutching onto her hand and allowing her eyes to roam over Andrea to assess her injuries.
"Andrea," Rick greets her, face stoic but eyes filled with relief at the sight of her. She sees Daryl half in the shadows and he gives her a respectful nod, crossbow down by his side in one of his hands.
"Are you okay?" Michonne whispers from her side, trailing a hand up and down her arm, sending sensations through Andrea that reminds her that she's still alive. She gives a weak smile, bringing her own hand up to brush Michonne's cheek.
"I'm fine," she says lowly, smile widening. "I haven't been bitten, I'm still alive, and you're here. I'm more than okay." Her companion answers with a wide smile, rubbing small circles on her bicep in affection.
"Do you think you can walk, Andrea? We have the townspeople on our side, so we won't need to sneak past anyone or fight, but the Governor could come back with his men. He slaughtered most of the people who went with him to the prison," Rick explained, holding out a hand to help her up. The blonde takes his hand, but Michonne wraps an arm around her waist and helps lift her up. Daryl darts forth to pick up the half-forgotten katana still on the ground and hands it to the warrior, who takes it gratefully but sheepishly, putting it away in its sheath in a practised move. She makes sure Andrea is comfortable before the group begins to move out of the room. Andrea refuses to budge, however, and Michonne sends her a questioning glance, following her friend's gaze to the body still lying on the floor.
"Can we take him with us?" she asks softly, bringing the attention of Rick, Daryl and Tyreese to the two women. "Milton." Michonne sends a look to the corpse and then back to Andrea.
"You knew him?" she questions. Andrea nods in reply.
"He was one of the Governor's confidantes, but he turned out good in the end. He became the only friend I had left in this place." The other woman looks at what had previously been Milton, and feels a flash of guilt and shame overcome her for leaving the woman beside her. She straightens up, however, noticing Rick and the others hesitate, and prepares herself to help fight for Andrea's proposal.
It's not needed as Rick assents with a nod. "We'll come back for him. Right now, we need to go and organise everybody else," he says. "I think we should take them all back to the prison, since no one wants to stay here now." Daryl grunts his approval and steps forward with Tyreese, taking the lead while Michonne supports Andrea and Rick stays close at hand.
They move quickly out of the building, across towards the main building where a decent amount of people are gathered, about twenty various residents, ranging from the very young to the very old.
They clamber around the five, murmuring and offering their sympathetic expressions to Andrea when they catch sight of her weakened state. Michonne's arm tightens and the blonde has to stifle her smile at the hardened frown on her friend's face. Tyreese stays behind with the other people, while the four survivors move forward into the Governor's building.
Once inside, Andrea's given water by Michonne and she sends the warrior a thankful smile as she takes her time drinking the water. Rick comes over with a bowl of oatmeal, which is grabbed gratefully and slowly eaten so it wouldn't be a shock to the system. Andrea finishes and catches Michonne staring at her neutrally, but as soon as she's been caught, a small, genuine smile appears on her face.
"We found you," Michonne whispers, causing Andrea to give a watery smile, tears springing to her eyes. "You're alive, and we found you." The blue-eyed woman leans forward and wraps her arms around her companion, letting out a choked sob of happiness. Michonne grins into her shoulder, holding her back in a tight grip. "I was so scared," she admits lowly, only for Andrea's ears, and the blonde's arms tighten, a wave of intense emotion causing goose bumps to cover her body.