A/N: Hey guys, I know, I haven't finished PtF, I'm still writing that one. I do hope you enjoy Start Again.
Chapter 1: Presentation matters
Michonne felt like she had been walking for a long time without any rest, killing and trying that much harder to survive, more so in the past two weeks that she had to before. May be it was the fatigue that had had set in, sending alarm bells to her mind that she was getting weaker and weaker. She needed food and shelter.
It had been hot for days, the sun, relentless in its goal to drive her mad especially now that her supplies had finally run out about a mile ago. Even her locs seemed heavy and hot against the nape of her neck. The idea of giving up had been slithering within her mind for days now, just lay here, on the side of the road and just, fade- hissed a dark voice, that wasn't like her, giving up was not an option, not after all that she had been through.
It had been days since she had had a decent meal, she had been rationing the little she had left since the promised sanctuary at Terminus turned out to be a bust. The place had been destroyed by the time she had reached it, the colour of the smoke drifting into the sky told her as much but the need to be a hundred present certain had gnawed at her and pushed her until she had come upon the sign post.
NO SANCTUARY
Thoughts of giving up had plagued her then, they were getting harder to fight but finding a place to rest or to call home was her main goal and she would not stop until she found it. There had to be a place like that in this godforsaken world. A place steeped in reality, she definitely did not want to relive what she had gone through in Woodbury.
She stopped for a second as she thought about going back to the barn that she had seen earlier but it didn't sound appealing at all. On a whim she cut through the dense forest on her left, taking care to move as fast and as stealthily as she could and avoid disturbing the things that dwelled within.
Long hours of walking had become so normal to her that she didn't even notice that any time had passed, taking brief moments to rest and drinking sips of the remaining water as she ventured deeper and deeper, into the woods. She emerged from the forest almost a half an hour later and was surprised when she came upon a fenced supermarket, four massive Del Arno Food trucks were parked at the delivery dock. She would have been cautiously pleased by the possibility of having somewhere to rest, recuperate and gain supplies except there was quite a disappointing number of walkers milling around.
There something odd about the behaviour of the undead that told her instinctively told her there were some poor suckers somewhere in that throng. Squinting, she made out a small black hatchback, however, could not see if there was anyone inside but with the way the walkers were pushing against it, there was someone in there.
She walked away.
It took her about ten minutes to make her way back to the supermarket, cursing herself for being stupid and contemplated just running herself through with the katana for even thinking about walking into a death trap. Why was she even considering the idea of saving anyone who was stupid enough to get caught up in this chaos? This situation reminded her of Andrea, the first time they had met with, no weapon on her and completely surrounded by walkers.
They'd saved each other that day, although Andrea had died without ever knowing how much of an impact she had been, in her life. The hope she had given her, something she had needed, especially after Andre, after Mike. Thinking of them was still painful but the knowledge that they would have wanted her to help whoever was in there, was all the incentive she needed.
She'd probably die trying.
Despite knowing all this, she walked even closer to the fence contemplating how best to get in, rescue and get out. A Big Cat right about now would have been ideal, just for the sugar and energy boost it would have given her, instead, she grimaced as she took the last swig of her water and pretend it was a V.
Taking out her katana, she eyed the scene before her as critically as she could, she would need a distraction to draw away a large number of the walkers. For the first time- in what seemed like a life time- the ghost of a smile curled at her lips as a ridiculous idea formed in her mind. It would probably get her killed but she was already weakened from lack of food, therefore, she couldn't be blamed for any crazy plans she came up with.
Opening her mouth, she proceeded to let out a blood curdling scream and started jogging slowly away from the main entrance, running her sword against the fence to add to the ruckus. She prayed to whatever deity that was still out there that her plan would work. Glancing to her right, she grinned in disbelief as she saw that her plan was sort of working, some of the walkers were ambling their way towards her, trying to get at her through the fence. When they had left a large enough distance between them and the car, she ventured her way back to the main gates and made her way inside.
They'd made it out.
Thank. You. Sweet. Jesus! She was never doing that again, at least, not on an empty stomach with only her starved brain to depend on for intellectual input.
They stumbled out of the gates and she almost fell on her ass when she tripped on seemingly nothing but air. She bent at the waist trying to catch her breath, watching with some relief as one of the men she had rescued, immediately scrambled to close the gates.
A moment later, she was startled to see the shaggy haired guy point his cross bow in her direction, she could barely lift her own weapon in defence after fighting so many walkers in her weakened state.
Yeah Michonne, she grumbled silently, that's what you get for helping a bunch of strangers.
Straightening, she watched in trepidation as the arrow was released and exhaled unevenly when it flew past her, imbedding itself into a walker that had been approaching her from behind. For a minute there, she had been cursing the memory of Andrea, thinking that she had also fallen into a trap worthy of the Governor. She shuddered at the thought.
"That was…thank you, thank you!" The other guy said to her effusively as he visibly tried to regulate his breathing.
She nodded cautiously in his direction but remained silent, observing them for any signs that they would attack her and hoping that she wouldn't regret playing Mother Theresa. Her hand tightened around the handle of the katana, ready to defend herself if things turned sour.
"Uh…I'm Aaron and this is Daryl". The friendly one or Aaron continued talking as he introduced himself and his silent friend.
Michonne eyed them in suspicion, wondering how these men had become trapped in the first place. She looked at the walkers on the other side of the fence, and then back at the men who were looking at her with interest, the smiley one seemed to be more trustworthy than the other guy who still hadn't spoken, so she focused her attention on Aaron as she spoke.
"Michonne"
She almost jumped when the silent and brooding guy, talked to her.
"Why?" he asked.
She knew what he was asking, why she had risked her life to save them when she could have been killed herself. She momentarily considered what answer to give them, there was no reason why she had to lie or tell the whole truth.
She looked directly at the one named Daryl, the one who had asked the question and said, "I know someone in my past who would have done the same…"
Aaron and Daryl shared a look that she couldn't decipher.
"Whoever set that trap, they are coming but I have good news-", began Aaron but corrected himself nervously or excitedly, she couldn't decide which. He pointed towards Daryl and himself. "We do, uh, we have a community not too far away from here, walls, electricity…
And the rest, as they say, was history- not really, because it had taken a little bit of convincing before she had gone anywhere with them.
She should have probably walked out of Alexandria considering the kind of welcome they had walked into when they eventually reached the safe zone as night fell. A courtyard full of people, a gunshot, two dead bodies lying on the ground, a crying woman cradling the head of one of the dead.
In the midst of it all, one man stood out above the rest, drenched in blood like something out of True Blood.
"Today wasn't a good day to bring her in…where did you say you found her again?"
"She found us, rescued us. In fact, if it hadn't for her, we probably wouldn't be here right now"
Michonne wondered how long she would stand at the entrance of the now (mostly) empty courtyard and pretend she couldn't hear them discussing her presence. She openly eyed the man whom Aaron and Daryl were talking to, she assumed he was the leader. Something twitched at his side catching her eye, a blonde haired woman stepped into her line of sight. She assumed again that may have been his significant other considering how close they were standing next to each other.
In that instant, as if the blond woman could tell that her mind had shifted to her- their eyes met from across the courtyard briefly. There was this peaceful and composed look on her face, like the bodies at her feet were a daily occurrence or didn't bother her at all.
Michonne watched with interest as the blonde gazed at the man at her side with something akin to adoration on her face. Objectively, she readily admitted to herself there was something animalistic and captivating about him, even more so with the blood on his face and everywhere, really. He was aesthetically, an attractive man, however, she was acutely aware that he was a man not to be crossed. Not that she needed any warning, considering…
Her heart, beat steadily against her ribcage as those icy blue eyes zeroed in on her with such intensity that she almost looked away but she held his gaze almost defiantly. He reminded her of the Governor and that did not bode well with her seeing as how that situation had turned out.
She braced herself not to move out of his path as he stalked his way over to where she was standing she couldn't help but feel like prey as his eyes remained fixated on her. Her fingers itched to take out her katana. It was a reasonable precaution to take, she had just witnessed him kill a man in cold blood and he still held the same weapon in his hand.
When he finally stood in front of her, he extended his other bloodied hand out to her.
She contemplated ignoring it and just walking out of whatever crazy she had unwittingly walked into. Clearly, Daryl and Aaron hadn't told her everything. But the idea of going back out there at that very moment sounded less appealing than getting a few days of rest and something to eat whilst she decided if this place was worth staying. And if this man turned out to be just like the Governor, well, she would handle him too.
She gripped his hand tightly as she shook it, introducing herself.
His head titled to the right as his gaze bore into her making her feel uncomfortable, she pulled her hand out of his hold, uneasily.
"Michonne", he said slowly, his voice deepening at the end.
She instantly didn't like the way he said her name, there was a familiarity in his tone that shouldn't have been there and she didn't like that. He didn't know her like that.
"I'm Rick. Rick Grimes"
Daryl and Rick? Michonne froze, feeling like an icy cold bucket of water had been dumped on her. She stared at the man before her in disbelief, she realised she had made a mistake by reacting outwardly to his name a second too late. Looking at him, she knew instantly that he hadn't missed her likely confusing response to his name. From the corner of her eye, she noticed his hand twitch. The same hand that still held the gun.
"Do I know you", he questioned her, guardedly. He seemingly searched her face for anything that may have been familiar.
I know you, she thought, or at least, I have heard a lot of things about you, your wife over there and your former buddy and your son. She swallowed with some difficulty and shook her head. This wasn't the same man Andrea had described- the kind, generous and fair guy, always willing to do his best for everyone and the group. That is why Andrea had forgiven him for leaving her to her fate back at the farm on that ill-fated day.
"No, I don't think so", she denied.
The hand stopped twitching and he smiled, if it was meant to show her that he was an amiable person, he failed quite miserably. His charming display of his perfect teeth only served to put her on edge. She gritted her teeth and smiled back at him, already making her mind to leave the following morning.