Post by melinda on Mar 22, 2013 19:59:57 GMT -6
The Governor's Wife
The title comes from my favorite episode of I dream of Jeannie, which is no way related to this Walking Dead fic.
He got off to work on time, always on time. Phillip was nothing if not always on time, a fact that sometimes drove his wife crazy. She wished he could be a little more spontaneous, but he had to stick to a schedule. Live and die by the clock, she always said about him. So when she called him, she expected him to pick up. But he didn't, which was a fact that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
When he got the second call, this time he was sure to pick up. She was gone. His wife was gone. This couldn't be happening, not now. He'd planned on surprising her by bringing home takeout for her and their daughter, but that wasn't meant to be. It couldn't be happening, not to him. He was a guy who always did what he was told, when he was told, no matter what the order was. Secretly he despised answering to a guy who had only an associate's degree (probably earned from his pizza delivery money) but he was a man of great responsibility. He was a family man, after all, and he did what he had to do to provide for his family.
And look how well that turned out for him. His wife was dead, and he couldn't even be there for her when she needed him the most. All he could do was comfort their daughter, and he wasn't even that good at that. He'd stopped off for a drink, a cold, hard stiff drink, then he headed home to be with his daughter. Forget responsibilities. He'd had enough of that for one lifetime. But Phillip knew that he couldn't turn his back on his sole remaining family member. She would always be a reminder of what he'd once had, what could have and what should have been.
0000
Phillip couldn't have predicted the end of the world, who could? But he tried his best, he really did, to protect his daughter. If he couldn't save his wife then he'd d**n well make sure nothing happened to his daughter. But once again, he failed to do the simplest and most basic of familiar responsibility, and his daughter had turned to one of them. The one minute he let his guard down, she'd been bit, and he sure wouldn't let her go out like that.
So he checked in on her several times a day. More and more he saw that the people of Woodbury needed him, they needed a man of responsibility, and didn't he owe his wife and daughter that much? He couldn't have saved them, but he could be what the town needed him to be. The governor, they called him. Secretly he would chuckle and try to figure out why they called him that. Not that he minded. It was about time he was recognized for the great leader that he thought himself to be, even with all of his failings. Milton had soon become his most trusted assistant, although there were moments where he questioned where Milton's loyalties lay.
No, he was a man of great importance, and he was only doing what any decent man would do. There would be hell to pay for someone stepping on his territory, and if going to battle was what the people needed (sometimes people didn't really know what was best for them, that was why they needed a governor) then that's what he would give them.
Yes, with great power came great responsibility, and if that's what this “ meeting” called for, then so be it. The governor poured himself a drink before Rick came to meet him. Let the best man win, so he thought, and he closed his eyes and prepared for the duties that lay before him. Truly, the best man would win, and there was no doubt in his mind who that best man was.
Long live the governor.
The end
The title comes from my favorite episode of I dream of Jeannie, which is no way related to this Walking Dead fic.
He got off to work on time, always on time. Phillip was nothing if not always on time, a fact that sometimes drove his wife crazy. She wished he could be a little more spontaneous, but he had to stick to a schedule. Live and die by the clock, she always said about him. So when she called him, she expected him to pick up. But he didn't, which was a fact that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
When he got the second call, this time he was sure to pick up. She was gone. His wife was gone. This couldn't be happening, not now. He'd planned on surprising her by bringing home takeout for her and their daughter, but that wasn't meant to be. It couldn't be happening, not to him. He was a guy who always did what he was told, when he was told, no matter what the order was. Secretly he despised answering to a guy who had only an associate's degree (probably earned from his pizza delivery money) but he was a man of great responsibility. He was a family man, after all, and he did what he had to do to provide for his family.
And look how well that turned out for him. His wife was dead, and he couldn't even be there for her when she needed him the most. All he could do was comfort their daughter, and he wasn't even that good at that. He'd stopped off for a drink, a cold, hard stiff drink, then he headed home to be with his daughter. Forget responsibilities. He'd had enough of that for one lifetime. But Phillip knew that he couldn't turn his back on his sole remaining family member. She would always be a reminder of what he'd once had, what could have and what should have been.
0000
Phillip couldn't have predicted the end of the world, who could? But he tried his best, he really did, to protect his daughter. If he couldn't save his wife then he'd d**n well make sure nothing happened to his daughter. But once again, he failed to do the simplest and most basic of familiar responsibility, and his daughter had turned to one of them. The one minute he let his guard down, she'd been bit, and he sure wouldn't let her go out like that.
So he checked in on her several times a day. More and more he saw that the people of Woodbury needed him, they needed a man of responsibility, and didn't he owe his wife and daughter that much? He couldn't have saved them, but he could be what the town needed him to be. The governor, they called him. Secretly he would chuckle and try to figure out why they called him that. Not that he minded. It was about time he was recognized for the great leader that he thought himself to be, even with all of his failings. Milton had soon become his most trusted assistant, although there were moments where he questioned where Milton's loyalties lay.
No, he was a man of great importance, and he was only doing what any decent man would do. There would be hell to pay for someone stepping on his territory, and if going to battle was what the people needed (sometimes people didn't really know what was best for them, that was why they needed a governor) then that's what he would give them.
Yes, with great power came great responsibility, and if that's what this “ meeting” called for, then so be it. The governor poured himself a drink before Rick came to meet him. Let the best man win, so he thought, and he closed his eyes and prepared for the duties that lay before him. Truly, the best man would win, and there was no doubt in his mind who that best man was.
Long live the governor.
The end
I am way too lazy to check out this show. LOL 
