Chapter 1:
Michonne strolled through the compound, tired and hot. Her katana felt heavy and her backpack seemed to weigh a ton though it was near enough empty. Evening was fast approaching and everyone was locking up for the day and heading home. She couldn't wait to find herself home as well. As tired as she was, she still power walked, as she was in no mood for any small talk with the other residents, though she was usually polite and friendly.
She walked up the steps to the building and shoved the door open. She was greeted to the sound of men laughing heartily and cigar smoke slipping from beneath the first door in the hall. She rolled her eyes and went straight upstairs, uninterested in the joke they shared.
As soon as she was in the comfort of her bedroom she stripped off her clothing and headed straight for the bathroom, stepping straight in the shower. The water was lukewarm but she didn't mind, it cooled her down. She stuck her head beneath the stream and lost herself in the luxury.
Her time in the shower was something she had come to love. It was a place she could block out everything that went wrong in the world, and even the things that went wrong behind the walls. She looked forward to it as she could hide in there for as long as she wished, without a care, usually. It was a regiment that she had held on to from her old life, and as she had learned, it was difficult to do such a thing when resources were low.
"You didn't want to tell me your back?"
She gripped her towel tighter as she returned to her bedroom, shocked to see the familiar face on her bed, "You scared me"
"Well shit, didn't think that was possible?", He smiled, his eyes flashing with amusement.
She headed over to her dresser, "We didn't find as much as the last time but… it will do"
"I told you we don't need to go out and scavenge anymore 'Chonne. We're setting up 'trades' now"
She pulled out a fresh pair of underwear and looked at him, "What's happened since I've been gone?"
"A lot. A fucking lot. We lost about thirty men. Some groups been taking them out all over the place"
"What?", She frowned at him, stepping forward.
"We caught up with them. I only killed one of theirs but that's all it took for them to fall apart", He smirked, "We're trading with them now actually"
She winced at him.
"They give us half there shit, and we won't kill 'em"
Her eyebrows shot up, "What?"
"Don't look at me like that 'Chonne. The deserve it-"
"I thought we don't do things like that?"
"We don't. But when you're going around killing innocent people, you lose that privilege. They lost theirs"
She shook her head as she grabbed her night clothes off the chair and walked back into the bathroom, slamming the door.
"Come on! Don't be like that! I agree with this whole peaceful shit you're trying to do but not everyone else does! These assholes need to get with the new world order"
She stared at the door as she listened to him.
"You know I don't like to murder for no reason, in fact, I was pretty fucking nice to kill only one of theirs, when I could have killed them all. We won't kill anyone else unless they're a threat, alright?"
She pursed her lips as she tried to sense how genuine he was being with her. She cracked the door to look at him.
"I can't have my right hand woman mad at me now, can I?", He charmed, his dark eyebrows raising.
"Promise me, Negan"
"I fucking promise. Pinkie promise"
She nodded slowly.
"Why don't you get changed in front of me? I've seen it bef-"
She shut the door in his face.
"Nice! Really fucking nice 'Chonne!"
She smirked as she began to put on her clothes.
"Hey, we have our first collection tomorrow, so be ready at noon alright?"
"Fine!", She called back, pulling on her tank top.
She knew he had a problem grasping her stance on killing, but she would do her best to enforce it. With the world over run with the dead, the last thing they needed was to kill everyone that they didn't like. Though she could understand his point, as this other group had killed many of her own people. She couldn't say she wished them well after that.
She truly valued her friendship with Negan, despite their differences. The two of them had been together for so long, that she'd dread the day something happened to him. They had built the Savior's compound together and we're doing their best to run it, but as it got bigger, he took to being the frontman, while she preferred to roam around, looking for survivors and inventory. They still worked incredibly well together when she was home and she while she would never admit it to his smug face, she'd miss his company often.
The next day she was ready for their collection after having a good night's sleep. Negan wasn't in the home while she got ready, but his wives were. She avoided them like always, as that was also something they butted heads on. While both women were nice enough, she couldn't bare the idol conversation they often carried. They were the type that liked to stay at home and look after their husband, which wasn't particularly a problem in Michonne's eyes, she just found it hard to relate to.
Five cars and a large truck set out around lunch time when they were all ready. She rode in the third car, in the back with Negan, barely listening to their conversation. Some of the men had a tendency to share crass jokes, and Negan often loved to partake in such crude discussions, much to her displeasure. She chose to drown herself in the scenery on the other side of her window. Most of the time she was looking out for potential danger, but other times she just enjoyed to see the overgrown grass swaying in the breeze, or the leaves in the trees rustle. She missed seeing birds scatter from the branches when something spooked them, but that sight had soon became a rare one.
"They call their little camp Alexandria. Heard they had a pretty nice set up", Negan snorted as he looked over at her.
"They do. It's pretty big, high walls", Dwight added from the passenger seat, "Think I saw crops in there when we were checking it out"
"Who's in charge?", Michonne asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Some little killer country boy with a big attitude", Negan answered wiggling his eyebrows at him.
"I didn't see that attitude when we had them on their knees", Dwight chuckled, his shoulders bouncing.
"Don't write him off just yet. I have a feeling he's gonna be a pain in the ass"
Michonne squinted through the entrance as she noticed a grey, tall fence in the distance, hidden by a few burnt up homes, "This it?"
"Yep. It is. I hope they got our package ready"
Her eyes darted all over the place as she took in the area. She understood how they could go unnoticed for so long, as the place was quite discreet. She hated how excited Negan seemed to get when he was ready to intimidate someone. He sat forward with a deceptively warm smile on his face.
"Good thing I brought Lucille. Don't want them to get any ideas again"
Her eyes fell to the bat that he held between his legs. She never knew she could hate an item so much, but she through the same could be said for her sword as they had both seen the end of the living.
They parked up in a single file in front of the gates, and Michonne got out in time with everybody else.
"Knock, knock!", Wade called from beside the first vehicle.
She could barely stand the tall, slender, moustached man, but knew he could be resourceful, so she would often ignore him.
One of the gates that blocked the view of the camp opened, and a young brunette male opened the door.
"And who might you be?", Wade questioned, "We didn't see you at the party last week?"
"Spencer", He answered quickly, his jaw moving around nervously.
"Well Spencer, we're here to pick a few things up. You mind opening this door for us?"
The other male sighed, "Rick's not back yet"
"We'll be sure to leave him at message", Wade stepped closer to the gate, "Now if you don't mind, we have at tight schedule to run"
Spencer hovered for a moment, before finally obliging. He pushed open the second gate and they all slowly filed in, "The pantry's that way"
"Rick the leader?", Michonne asked Negan in and hushed tone.
He rested his bat on his shoulder as he walked beside her, "He is. Pretty ballsy for him not to be here, don't you think?"
"He obviously had other important matters to tend to".
Negan snickered, "I'd think this would be pretty important"
Her eyes resumed their darting motions, taking in the new surroundings. She was very impressed with the set up, and could easily imagine living there herself.
"Can I talk to you, somewhere more private?"
Both Negan and Michonne looked Spencer head to toe as he approached them, a questioning look on their faces.
"Sure you can sport. Just make sure your people know how to bag up my groceries while we're gone", Negan teased as he watched his men.
"Tobin will handle that", Spencer nodded, looking over at the other tall man further down the street.
The other man gave him a single nod back, before looking in the other direction and pointing for the saviours.
"Alright then. Take us to your office"
Michonne and Negan both followed Spencer over to a home in the centre of the little town, where he led them up the steps and into a grand hallway.
"Pretty fucking nice ain't it?", Negan nudged her as he looked at the book shelf, "You love to read, don't you 'Chonne? I bet they have a whole goddamn library from you somewhere around here"
"I wanted to talk to you... about Rick", Spencer explained, his chest rising and falling quickly.
"What about our little killer cowboy?", Negan's eyes scanned up and down the shelf.
Michonne looked out the window with narrowed eyes as she made sure they were safe to be away from the others.
"My parents set this place up… they're the ones that came up with the idea and ever since Rick and the group got here… he just ran it into the ground...this isn't what they wanted. This isn't what the Alexandria Safe Zone was meant to be"
Neither Negan or Michonne turned to look at him, but Negan still spoke, "And what was it supposed to be?"
"A safe zone. A place for people to come and live normal lives, away from the walkers. We were trying to rebuild a society, with schools and… a church. We wanted to create something like before"
"And what did Rick do wrong here?"
"He's trying to turn us all into killers… were not all killers. We're not all like him. We used to have only a select few go out on runs because they knew what they were doing, but now he expects us all to take our turn… he expects us all to be ready to kill and stand watch and… He's just a bad leader, and that's why I think you should put me in charge"
Negan and Michonne slowly turned to face the young, agitated man.
"I should put you in charge? And how would I do that?"
Spencer swallowed, "You kill Rick"
Negan looked at Michonne and wiggled his eyebrows at her, "You hear this 'Chonne?"
Michonne's face showed nothing but disappointment at his request.
"I can lead this place better and I can make sure you-"
"Oh shut up, pin dick", Negan scoffed as he dropped his bat from his shoulder, "You're really quite the little weasel, aren't you?"
Spencer frowned at him, his eyes wide and confused.
"You have to kill to survive in this world now, don't you get that? You wanted to sit behind these fucking walls and twiddle your thumbs for the rest of your soon to be short life?"
"I just don't agree-"
"You know what I hate?", Negan stepped closer to him, "I hate little pricks like you. You remind me of that other greasy, son of a bitch, what's his name? Gregory? Ugh, I hate that guy. Another little worm like you!"
Michonne could see that Spencer was tempted to take a step back but didn't.
"You can't kill Rick yourself? You scare of him? That why you came to me? You thought I'd do your dirty work for you, huh?", Negan swung his bat back and forth beside his leg.
"I thought you would-"
Spencer's words were cut short by the knife Negan stuck in to his stomach. Michonne inhaled sharply as he male slowly doubled over.
"At least Rick is trying to help you assholes. I would have left a rat like you to rot in his own shit", Negan smirked, pulling the knife from his abdomen. He lifted his bat high on the air after pocketing the other weapon, and he smiled, "Batter up!"
He swung the bat down on Spencer's head, sending him to the ground with a loud crack. He brought the bat back up one more time before dropping it again on his skull.
"That's enough!", Michonne called to him sternly.
He tilted his head at Spencer's leaking, twitching body, and sighed, "Well, guess he wasn't paying attention in Rick's killing classes"
Michonne tufted at him as she stepped over Spencer's body, heading to the front door with Negan behind her. While she didn't agree with Negan's brutality, she had to admit that it was a poor choice on his behalf. If there was one thing that he dear friend didn't like, it was sneaky behaviour.
They left the door open, purely so no one got any surprises when they went to the dead man's home. The other saviours where carrying items back and forth to the truck they brought. A small group of people where at the front gate, and Michonne assumed it was the Alexandria residents.
"Rick! How nice of you to finally join us!", Negan bellowed, a devilish grin appearing on his face.
Michonne narrowed her eyes at the group of people, quickly trying to work out which one was Rick. She soon found out, as the lean, bearded man began walking towards them. His strut was cool and calm, though his expression told another story. His belt donned a silver gun that he kept his hand near, for obvious reasons. Her gaze travelled the length of him, until his eyes met with hers and something lit within her. She swiftly averted her eyes to the scene behind him, and almost frowned at her sudden nervousness.
"Heard you went out? Busy itinerary?", Negan mocked as they approached each other.
"Where were you?", His southern accent was thick and firm.
"Your boy Spencer took us on a little tour of his living room"
Rick's eyes narrowed, "Where is he?"
Negan looked back over his shoulder at the home, then at Rick, "He'll probably be out soon"
"He's dead", Michonne deadpanned, not in the mood for Negan's guessing games.
Rick's eyes slid over to hers as his brow furrowed, then back at Negan.
"Oh 'Chonne you ruined the surprise-", Negan's head jerked back as Rick's fist caught him in the cheek, sending the man stumbling back.
Michonne withdrew her sword and held it an inch beneath Rick's neck before he could step forward, "Don't."
Rick's eyes met with hers again, his hand on the handle of his colt python.
"The fucking killer farmer packs quite a punch", Negan chuckled as he stood up straight, "I'll let you have that one purely because you don't know why we killed him, but the next time you try that, she'll have your fucking head"
Michonne slowly lowered her sword, but kept both hands on the handle.
"Don't let her dainty appearance fool you, she's one of the most lethal killers I know",
Rick's eyes dropped to her sword, then back up to her face, and she alternated her gaze again.
"That little shit Spence wanted me to kill you, so I killed him. I thought I'd be doing you a favour", Negan studier Rick's facial expression and rolled his eyes, "He said you were a piece of shit leader, he could do better and blah, shit, blah"
Rick took a step back, looking only a little confused.
"It's true", Michonne co-signed, though not looking him in the eyes.
Rick ran his tongue across his bottom lip as his gaze pin balled between the two of them, "You should have let me deal with it"
"Well I would have but you weren't here now, were you?", Negan wrested the still bloody bat to his shoulder as he shook his head, "Not even a thank you. You sir, are an asshole"
Michonne looked behind Rick as the last box was taken to the truck and the remaining Saviors waited just beside the gates, "We're done"
"Looks like you're gonna have to give us a better tour next time", Negan barged past him as he began to walk towards the entrance, "I'd also like a fresh pot of coffee waiting for me. Some herbal shit for the lady here"
Michonne scowled at the back of his head as she sheathed her sword. When she realised Rick was watching her, she straightened up, and soon began marching behind Negan. She didn't know what it was that knocked her equilibrium off course, but she knew she didn't like it. She didn't like it at all.