TWD: Awakened As Rick

Six Days After the Meeting

Two prisoners.

The Governor sat against the stone wall, bruised and bound, his eyepatch hanging loose. Just a few feet away, also chained and silent, sat Martinez—former second-in-command, Woodbury's scarred soldier.

Captured during the ambush, Martinez had been dragged back to The Right Arm unconscious, a bullet wound in his shoulder and his pride shattered.

Now, neither man spoke much.

But the silence between them was thick with buried rage.

From the moment they were locked beneath Town Hall, Rick had made the rule clear:

"No one speaks to either of them alone".

Graves oversaw the cellblock and rotations.

Leah handled prisoner security.

Kara watched every shift with precise records.

Morgan kept an eye on behavior.

The Governor had survived worse than a cell.

But Martinez… he'd never been caged before.

And it showed.

On the second day, Martinez broke the silence.

"Wasn't supposed to go like that."

The Governor didn't respond.

Martinez looked up. "You used me. Again."

"Rick should've killed you," Martinez spat. "Should've killed both of us."

That made the Governor chuckle. "Yet here we are.

Later, Morgan brought a tray of food. The same for both men—bread, beans, water.

The Governor grinned. "Is this what justice tastes like?"

Morgan didn't answer.

The Governor leaned forward, eye gleaming. "Let me guess. Rick didn't kill me because he's trying to set an example."

He gestured to Martinez. "But this one? He's a problem and a cracked mirror."

Martinez looked away.

Morgan finally spoke: "You're both problems. But only one of you keeps talking."

Leah entered later to check restraints. Kara stood by.

Martinez refused to look at her.

But the Governor spoke. "You could've ruled with me. Fire answers fire."

Leah didn't flinch. "Fire dies. Community doesn't."

The Governor cocked his head. "And when Rick falters? What then?"

She stepped close to the bars.

"Then I lead. And you rot."

Outside, beneath the half-finish irigation platform, Maggie sat with Rick, watching Carl playing with the other children.

Maggie turned. "You're holding it all together. But you don't talk about what's coming."

Rick sighed. "Because I don't know how far the storm reaches. Yet."

Maggie squeezed his hand.

"Then we'll hold the line until it breaks.

When Shane entered the block with Graves, he approached the bars and stared at Martinez.

The two had never met before the ambush, but they recognized each other immediately.

"Your boss is a snake," Shane said. "And you? You're the fang that got cut off."

Martinez, beaten down but not broken, muttered, "Maybe. But snakes still bite back."

Shane grinned. "So do hammers."

Two days after the ambush, the full council met again.

All 18 members attended:

Rick, Shane, Leah, Maggie, Morgan, Carol, Glenn, Lori, Daryl, Kara, Graves, Guillermo, Dale, Merle, Washington, Turner, Sarah, and Morales

Leah gave the report:

"Both prisoners are stable. No attempts to escape. The Governor plays mind games. Martinez is… quieter."

Graves added: "But he's listening and likely waiting for something".

Shane urged, "Let's end it. Both of them."

Morgan replied, "Execution isn't leadership. It's fear in armor."

Rick shook his head. "We hold them. We show the next threat that strength doesn't mean slaughter."

Maggie agreed. "This place stands for something now."

Merle, arms crossed, muttered, "So we wait for Woodbury to knock on our gates?"

Rick looked around the table.

"No," he said. "We prepare."

Kara and Daryl patrolled the east ridge the following morning.

That's when Kara froze.

A branch bent unnaturally. A heel mark in the dirt.

Then they saw it.

A red cloth—tied loosely to a branch.

Marked with a single symbol:

"W"

Painted.

Fresh.

Daryl whispered, "They're already out there."

That evening, as Graves finished his shift, he passed the cell and heard a whisper.

The Governor sat on his cot, grinning.

"Let him come," he said to the wall. "Let him bring them."

Graves narrowed his eyes. "Who?"

The Governor looked up.

"My people. You really think I doesn't have loyal followers?"

Across the cell, Martinez finally turned.

His eyes met Graves'.

Then Rick appeared behind them.

He said only one thing:

"Lock it down".

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