Realizing that we had the Governor—the head of the snake—in the back of the sedan, everyone seemed to relax all of a sudden, knowing everything was fine now.
Morgan let out a breath he'd been holding since we left, his hand sliding off his rifle sling.
Jenny stood right beside him, pressing her forehead against his arm with her eyes closed, looking like she might cry from pure relief.
Dale wiped sweat off his forehead with his bucket hat, nodding silently to himself, while Andrea and Amy hugged each other tight near the garden gate.
Jim and Tom just stared at the trunk, their shoulders finally dropping.
Lydia looked over at Carol; both looked stunned.
Dr. Gale and Dr. Jenner both let out a silent sigh of relief.
Lori squeezed Carl's shoulder, pulling him back a step, while Jacqui and T-Dog exchanged a high-five.
Morales and Miranda pulled their kids close, and Glenn threw his hands up in the air with a massive grin.
Over by the porch, Annette, Beth, Shawn, Patricia, Otis, and Jimmy all looked like a mountain had just been lifted off their backs.
Michonne stood off to the side, her arms crossed over her chest, watching us with a sharp, relieved look.
"Let's take this to the meeting room," I said, glancing at the kids clutching their parents' legs.
"What we're about to say next is not for the children to hear."
The group—sans Rick, Daryl, Merle, and Shane—exchanged apprehensive looks among each other before they nodded in agreement.
Tom called out for his son, Eli, to take the children away, leaning down and whispering in his ear to keep them occupied.
Eli nodded fast, stepping forward with a bright smile.
"Who wants to see the horses?!" Eli shouted, waving his arms.
Apparently, that was more than enough to attract the kids' attention.
Carl, Sophia, Duane, and the Morales kids immediately cheered, turning on their heels and running off toward the barn after Eli, shouting that they wanted to ride them.
Seeing Eli was successful in distracting the kids, I turned back to the group. "Before we go, however, we have to get the Governor situated first," I said. "He's a dangerous man, so he requires a little more attention than usual."
I turned to Daryl and Merle. "Could you grab a set of handcuffs and a sturdy roll of rope?" I jerked my chin toward the back of the sedan. "Make sure he's tightly secured before you place him in one of the empty rooms in the new dorms, and make sure to lock the room."
Merle groaned loudly, rolling his eyes. "Ah, hell, more heavy lifting." But he still walked to the back of the sedan to get the Governor out.
Daryl didn't say anything; he just grunted, turned on his heel, and headed toward the farmhouse to grab the restraints.
"With that out of the way, let's get that meeting on the run, shall we?"
And with that, we headed inside the farmhouse.
Soon, the meeting room was crammed full of everyone.
There wasn't much floor space left—some sat on the wooden chairs next to the tables, while others preferred to stay standing.
The room was dead silent, everyone waiting on edge to hear how the run had gone down.
"All right," I started, resting my hands on the back of a chair.
"Here's how it went. We reached Woodbury and scouted the place from afar first. They had snipers set up around the perimeter—five total. One on a watchtower, one on a roof, one on a water tower, one on a bus, and one on a silo."
Dale whistled softly under his breath.
"We knew taking them one by one was too risky, so we split up," I continued.
"We took down the one on the water tower because he had 360 visibility and could have spotted us easily. Once he was down, the rest were taken care of quick enough that no one figured out what happened. Once the eye in the sky was gone, we scaled the back wall and dropped into a side alley. From there, we split into two groups. Rick, Merle, and I went straight inside to apprehend the Governor in his office. Shane and Daryl stayed outside in the shadows to watch for anyone approaching, stopping them cold before they could jeopardize the whole mission."
I paused for a bit, my eyes sweeping over the quiet faces staring back at me.
"What Michonne told us about him..." I said, choosing my words carefully, "...it doesn't even come close to how demented that bastard really was."
That took the group by surprise.
They exchanged incredulous looks, finding it hard to believe that a guy running a safe town could be worse than what we already knew.
I didn't fault them; I'd have felt the same if not for my knowledge of him.
"That bastard kept a hidden room tucked away in his office closet," I said, keeping my voice flat.
"He kept a walker chained in the center of the room. We don't know who it was before she turned—guess we'll figure out who after that bastard wakes up. And that's not all."
I paused, taking in a deep breath.
"He had the walls of that secret room lined up with aquariums filled with reanimated, severed human heads... just floating there, snapping their jaws."
The reaction was instant.
Lori's face turned completely green, and she turned her head away, dry-retching.
Carol clutched her stomach, looking like she was about to be sick, and Patricia had to lean heavily on Otis just to stay upright.
Annette crossed herself, muttering a fast prayer under her breath, while Amy looked like she was about to pass out on the spot.
Even Dr. Jenner looked disgusted, his jaw clenched tight as he stared at the floorboards.
"Sweet Lord above..." Hershel breathed, his knuckles white as he leaned on his cane.
"A monster inside a man's skin," Dale added, shaking his head in total horror.
"Luckily, Michonne informed us beforehand of that bastard's plan," Glenn spoke up, wiping sweat off his forehead. "We would have been in serious trouble. He would've come here and killed us all. He really is totally unhinged."
Hearing him say that, everyone turned their heads to face Michonne.
Whatever suspicion that some of them had been holding onto completely melted away.
"Thank you, Michonne," Carol said, her voice shaking with genuine emotion.
"You saved our lives, girl," T-Dog said, offering her a nod of deep respect.
One by one, the rest of the group expressed their gratitude, thanking her for risking her life to come to the farm and give us the warning.
Michonne just gave a short, quiet nod, her face softening just a bit as she took in the warmth from people who had been complete strangers a couple of days ago.
I also nodded at her from my seat.
She deserved every bit of gratitude, because I knew if not for my foreknowledge, our fate would have been no better than the canon timeline.
Every time I think of that, I feel a chill running down my spine at the realization of the severity of the situation.
I built this haven to secure a bright future.
There is no way in hell I am gonna allow anyone to ruin what we have, no matter who it is.
Snapping out of my thoughts, I refocused my attention on the meeting.
"Now," I said, drawing everyone's attention back to me once again, "before the meeting comes to a close... what shall we do with the Governor?"
(To be continued...)