"Michonne!" Rick howled.
He had been firing at one of Negan's men who was trying to make a quick getaway in one of Negan's cars, when out of the corner of his eye he saw a body plunge from the fifth floor window of the building that he knew Michonne had been sniping from. His blood ran cold.
She had been practicing her shooting skills, and with Sasha's guidance her accuracy had grown. She had volunteered to be one of the snipers who would be holding off Negan's men from afar, and protecting Alexandria's troops from above. Rick had been relieved when she volunteered to do it. It meant she was helping from the safest place possible. But he was wrong. Something had gone horribly wrong. And now, a body lay on the concrete in front of the building.
He was a block away and couldn't make out who it was, but he promptly turned and sprinted towards the building, forgetting the Savior he was firing at, and forgetting the battle around him. Bullets whizzed past his head as he ran, yells and screams sounded miles away. He couldn't feel his legs moving, it felt like he was floating as he got closer and closer to the crumpled heap of a person laying on the concrete.
"M…Michonne…" he uttered in a virtual whisper as he approached the body crushed on the sidewalk, blood running from its head into the gutter. The clothing was wrong, the hair was wrong. As he got closer relief flooded his soul. It's not her.
"Michonne!" Rick screamed at the 5th story window. "Michonne! Come to the window!"
There was no response. No movement from the window, and her sniper rifle lay on the ground next to the dead body. Rick sprinted towards the door to the building which had been kicked in. He flew up the flights of stairs screaming Michonne's name, not caring who he was alerting to his presence. He couldn't get over the fact that there was no noise in the building. Everything was deathly silent.
She's not dead. She's ok. Maybe she's hiding. Maybe she… she has to be ok.
As Rick reached the top floor he raised his weapon. He entered the hallway that led from the staircase cautiously.
"Michonne?" he called again. Silence.
He moved down the hallway, nudging a half open door with his foot. The door swung open and bounced back when it hit something. Rick cautiously peeked around the door and saw one of Michonne's shoes. His heart dropped. He swung around and spotted her lying motionless, propped up against the wall behind the door. There were bloody drag marks on the floor, showing she had crawled there from the open window. She was bleeding heavily, Rick spotted an obvious stab wound in her arm, but there had to be others from the amount of blood she was losing. And even amidst her injuries, she had managed to hold on to her katana. It was gripped in her right hand.
"Oh my God. Michonne! Michonne!" Rick screamed, dropping to his knees in front of her. "Baby, can you hear me? Wake up!". When she didn't respond, Rick gently placed both hands on her face, cradling it.
"Come on sweetheart, open your eyes for me. Please baby."
When she didn't respond, Rick inched closer, wrapping his arms around her and holding her against his chest, her head cradled in his neck.
"Please, please, please" Rick begged, crying hysterically. He leaned over until his lips were close to her ear. "This isn't it for us" he whispered, "we're the ones who live."
He slid his arms under Michonne and lifted her gently from the floor, her head slumped against his chest. He was sure to hold on to her katana as well, as he carried her down the steps.
When he got to the bottom of the steps, he felt her head moving slowly against his chest as she regained consciousness.
"Michonne?" he whispered, relieved to see any movement from her.
"We're… the ones… who live" she repeated.