The Governor’s forces pushed inside the complex, following their group leaders and fanned out when a hand signal was given, most of them just following those in front of them into the dim gray concrete box these unfriendly neighbors call home, but it didn’t matter how far inside they went, they didn’t find anything.

The cellblock was completely empty, like it’s inhabitants had cleared out hours ago, and many of them started to think they scared them off; they probably left in the middle of the night.

With the way they’ve been coming at them the last few days, nobody could blame them for running away, in fact most of them assumed that was the Governor’s intention; Better to scare them off than to kill people. Only a few here knew he had no such intentions and those few were watching the man closely enough to know that he wasn’t happy about finding an empty nest.

As the tall grim man wandered through the cell block, he himself was beginning to think they really fled, until he came upon a cell.

Dull clicks against the concrete came to a halt and then echoed again as he took slow steps into the cramped cell, towards the steel table with a single familiar book sitting open in the center; as if deliberate.

A ruthless cold spread through his face, extending all the way through his body right down to the fingertips, his pupil shrinking as he stared at book.

The tenseness of his rigid ramrod back could be seen by the naked eye, like living ice, as he lifted the book from the table.

His eye fixated like a predator on a single highlighted scripture of the worn bible and slowly dragged across the words on the page.

‘And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.’

The Governor all but threw the book into the corner, his face twisted into an ugly snarl as he turned his back to the door.

A tremble of amalgamated anger and unease slithered under his skin like a parasite as he wiped the sweat from his throat with the back of his hand before turning around.

One piercing eye threw a dagger-like gaze at his second in command outside the cell, startling Martinez into nearly taking a step back.

He’s seen The Governor do a lot of things — downright psychopathic stuff — it didn’t take much imagination to figure out what might have happened if he’d let slip his wariness of the man.

Thankfully, he was distracted by whatever he’d just read, but Martinez has never seen him so openly furious before.

Not even when the hand-off/ambush the other day was reversed back on them, and not only did they not manage to kill anyone, they even lost a few people and were forced to retreat.

It seems they have greatly underestimated the people of the prison and The Governor wasn’t handling it well. Who could blame him? Even Martinez felt like these people were running circles around them, but he’s had the weirdest feeling about it.

He didn’t think this Rick guy was that smart — none of them really struck him as that smart.

Someone who could outsmart — even trick — the Governor wouldn’t be easy to overlook, and yet The Governor has been made a fool of almost every clash they’ve had with these people.

Judging from their scout’s reports none of these people should be that capable….

The more Martinez thought about it, the more confused he became, until he remembered that woman. The quiet one.

She didn’t stick out much, like a shadow at the archer’s back. The only thing he really noticed about her was that her eyes were particularly bright.

He had dismissed her as just more backup at first, but during the negotiation, Martinez distinctly remembered her being there one minute and out of sight the next. He only noticed she was gone-gone when they heard the bangs and growls and went to deal with it.

He’s seen a lot of people who got good with guns since the apocalypse, but that display of pure flawless skill they walked up on. Like something out of mortal combat.

It almost made him shiver just thinking back to it.

Learning how to use a gun is easy, all it takes is a little practice but learning how to use a knife like that….

He’ll never forget that moment he realized she might be the most dangerous of them all; that he had completely overlooked her, and if that meeting had ended in a blood-bath, the prison would have been the ones to walk away.

They may be few in number, but these people have some terrifyingly skilled people in their ranks. No one with eyes could even debate that because of all the trouble they’ve caused Woodbury.

There’s less than 2 dozen of them against Woodbury’s whole town and yet they’ve made it in & out more than once without losing a single person — and anyone Woodbury managed to capture had escaped inside of a day.

The only time they even got close was when Merle caught them off guard and snagged three of them the first time.

They caught them off guard, and still weren’t a match for them.

If there’s ever been an example of quality over quantity…

Martinez isn’t even sure about this assault today.

They’ve brought almost half of their people, most of their guns, and biggest trucks, and he was right to feel uneasy about it, because what have they found for it?

Not a soul in sight and not a clue where they’ve gone.

A cold sweat collected on his back and neck, rolling down the side of his face as he gripped his gun tighter.

It doesn’t feel right.

Are they supposed to believe they just give up like this after the fight they’ve been putting up?

Did they wait until they left Woodbury to attack the town again? Is that why they risked an invasion the other day? Were they just scouting?

Martinez’s head was so filled with questions that he followed the Governor on autopilot as he wandered back to that first room.

He almost missed it when the Governor’s beady eye settled on him and the person beside him and started whispering orders as if someone would overhear.

“Take a group and go that way. You take a group and follow me.”

Martinez nodded and pointed at people as he went back towards the cellblock, indicating them to come with him and took about half — maybe a third — of the group to the door at the back of the cell-block, while the other group followed the Governor into what they knew were the tombs; thanks to some people they accepted into Woodbury a few days ago who had wandered their way into the prison and were promptly chased out by Rick.

Two people walked in front of the Governor, guns raised as the large group crept into the enclosed unnerving tunnels, the dark made it hard to see but those near the middle took out flashlights and provided some light for those in front so they could keep their hands free.

They checked around the corners, in the cells, and doors along the way, slowly leading the group farther in and taking silent orders from their leader as if he were their king and they were his guards.

Even though their steps were lighter than a cat’s on grass, their sheer numbers made it impossible to move entirely quietly and unconsciously they began to space further apart, some slower than others, and the back began to lag a little; watching behind them but the longer they went without anything happening the higher anxieties ran and every second was like winding their nerves tighter and tighter until they were so taught that a rat squeaking might set off a barrage of bullets.

No one said anything but the exchanges of looks in the low light of their flashlights passed the tacit agreement that not even one of them had a good feeling about this. Something is wrong and they all knew it. It’s too quiet.

The moment the thought struck those in the front, the entire group froze from the front to the back, like a wave.

With no one moving, the far-off sound of metal creaking could be heard. It didn’t sound too far away but it was so quiet that even when standing perfectly still, the sound of their breaths almost overwhelmed it.

The sound of a door — or more likely a gate — opening and closing was followed by quick and quiet steps and the faintest sound of another door.

Those in front glanced at the Governor, waiting for orders and the corner of the man’s lip hooked up; concealed from his subordinates in the darkness.

Maybe they didn’t leave after all.

The Governor nodded at the two and they moved forward again, but because of the distraction, they overlooked the nearly invisible wire strung taught across the floor right around the corner.

Suddenly there was a loud ‘bang’ followed by a bright flash and screams pierced the air, echoing down the concrete corridors that were rapidly filling with smoke; lit like thunderclouds by white flashlights waving around as people began coughing and shouting, and then the alarms blared.

Panic, confusion, and chaos erupted in the stone corridor as people’s eardrums were assaulted by the deafening wales of the prison security system.

It blared through speakers that were nowhere near them, but its potency was no less diminished. The shock wave of sights and sounds was enough to disorient anyone and no matter how loud their team leaders shouted, nobody could hear a damn thing.

When the first person near the back ran for it, abandoning this foolish hunt to follow the tunnels back the way they came, it triggered a stampede.

Floods of people soon followed them, all running for the way out; out of dark cramped tunnels and overwhelming senses back into the light and open spaces and they didn’t stop there, immediately running for the doors and pouring out into the diffused sunlight.