Dadadada~
The large wooden gate slowly opened up, revealing Rick behind who also appears to be unarmed like the Governor.
For obvious reasons, both men do not trust each other and only appear unarmed for appearances only and both are actually hiding a handgun tucked at the back of their pants.
"Who are you and what purpose have you come here for?" Rick said the moment he closed the distance between them. He asked that, but he knows that their appearance here might be related to Merle and Shane, and that they obviously didn't come here with good intentions.
"They call me The Governor." He smiled and continued. "And you must be Michael."
Rick did not respond, and stared at him for a few moments. "I'm Rick."
The Governor raised an eyebrow and slightly tilted his head. "Ahh, so you're that person Merle mentioned. Shane's friend, right? But I heard your group is actually led by a person called Michael. Whom your friend refers to as a fearsome individual. Where is he? I'd like to speak with him about some very important matters. That is, if he's still alive."
Rick smirked and snorted. "He's not here. He's staying with an allied community. In his absence, I make the decisions."
"Is that so?"
Obviously, Rick's lying. No one has any clue where Michael and the others are right now and he also doesn't call the shots since there are still Glenn, Herschel, Mary and Daryl who he needs to consult with regarding major decisions. He also brought up the allied community since he knows it would certainly make the person before him more wary of them and to prevent the man called The Governor from doing anything stupid since Rick does not want to clash with them.
'We obviously have the upper hand against them, but we'd rather take the safest choice right now. We just need to buy more time until Michael and the rest come back.'
'An allied community? There's another survivor group somewhere near here? Missing one community is understandable, but two? What the heck have those guys been doing that they didn't discover anything? One wrong move and today's matter could blow up into an all out war. Right now, Woodbury can't take on two groups, but maybe we can if we actually plan things right.'
The two men stared at each other, absorbed in their own thoughts. One is putting on a bluff to make their group seem more intimidating, while the other is weighing his options.
"So are we just gonna stand here and stare at each other, or are you gonna tell me your purpose for coming here?"
The Governor lightly smiled before responding. "I came here to propose a trade. You have people that I want and in exchange for them, I'll give you all the resources that you need. Anything..that you want."
Listening to his words, Rick couldn't help chuckle at the absurdity of it.
"A trade? You want us to exchange our people for resources? Do you think we lack resources that we'd stoop to that kind of level? Stop beating around the bush and tell me what you really came here for. Stop wasting our time." Rick immediately had an inkling the moment The Governor brought up the idea of trading resources with people, but to confirm it. He had to hear it directly from him.
It was The Governor's turn to let out a chuckle. "So are you saying you'd stoop to that level when resources are low?"
Rick wasn't being amused anymore and stared daggers at him. He has an urge to smash his fist against his face.
Seeing the man's expression, The Governor decided to stop pressing his buttons and became serious. "Alright, enough playing around. Though I was serious about the trade and to be specific, I want you to give me Merle's brother and Shane's family to us in exchange for any resources you want. That's not hard to do, right? After all, we can't keep them separated for long and I can't promise you that they won't stop poking around here."
The Governor was only willing to do this because he had seen their worth and their capabilities in the face of danger. Though he still holds some reservations towards Shane since he's a little crazy sometimes.
Rick's brows creased with visible confusion on his face. "I can understand Merle, but what do you mean Shane's family being here?"
He thought Rick was trying to lie because of their past relationship, but when he saw the visible confusion in his eyes. It was The Governor's turn to be confused. "If I remember correctly, Merle mentioned a wife and son. Don't tell me they're dead?"
Hearing Merle's name being brought up, Rick was visibly annoyed. 'That bastard, what has he been feeding to these people?'
"I.." Rick was about to deny his claims again, but then he remembered the reason why his relationship with Lori had become cold lately and it made his face dark.
"That bastard, has he gone mad? Does he really think my wife and son are his?" Rick wanted to erupt in anger, but reason quickly pulled him back. Instead, he looked past The Governor and towards Shane in the distance with a look that could kill.
Ruthless as he is, even he was taken aback by that sudden revelation and it made him speechless.
"I think we've gotten on a wrong foot here and have a major misunderstanding."
Rick frowned in response. "I think it's time for you to leave because we're going nowhere with this and it would be better if our groups never come across each other again from now on."
The Governor slightly shook his head and in a calm tone. "I don't think that's possible. This place is only so big."
Rick raised an eyebrow with those words from him. He slowly realized what he's trying to say and it made him wary.
The two men stared at each other with varying expressions. The Governor having this slight teasing smile on his lips while Rick on the other hand became tense and was debating inside if he should pull out his handgun and shoot him.
This would surprise Michael if he knows Rick had thoughts of killing someone since the man at this point isn't a hardened survivor yet, he's someone who should've not dirtied his hands yet.
The only explanation would be that Rick had already met his fair share of people who would not hesitate to kill a person just for a box of energy bars.
After a long tense silence between them.
"I think I've overstayed my welcome. We'll see each other again."
"I hope we don't, because I don't know what I'll do to you if that happens. Also tell Shane…that he's delusional if he still thinks that he can go anywhere near my family."
The Governor just smiled while slowly backing off, he was not the least bit bothered by his threats. He turned around after a couple of steps and headed back towards his men with his back facing Rick, who's now contemplating if he should just end him here and avoid any more friction in the future.
'No, it's not worth it. Not yet at least.' Rick also turned around and went back inside as the large gate slowly closed behind him.