[AU] The Promise - A Walking Dead fan fiction by Terry Ndokosho
Rick met Michonne for the first time when she saved Herschel's life when he was cut off by walkers outside the prison. If she hadn't been there, he would have lost more than just a leg. Lori was the one who insisted that Michonne stay at the prison afterwards. She along with everyone else was grateful to Michonne for saving Herschel and she was thinking ahead as she knew she would need strong people to help keep her family and friends safe and she found herself becoming very close to Michonne, as they grew to realize they had a lot in common such as motherhood. And so Michonne became part of the group.
Glenn and Maggie went out on a run to find stuff for Lori's baby and they were captured by The Governor. While in captivity, Glenn revealed to Andrea, who had become a member of Woodberry since splitting with Michonne that Rick, Michonne and the others were held out at the prison. The Governor overheard the conversation and his sick obsession with Michonne drove him to seek out the prison and get her back. She put his daughter down and took his eye out the last time he saw her. She escaped him but now he'd caught up to her - as he promised to do and it was time for her to face the consequences. The Governor offered Rick a deal - Glenn, Maggie and no war, for Michonne.
Michonne decided to give herself up. She wasn't going to let her friends suffer for her. The Governor took Michonne and had her tied up in his basement. He tortured her in private everyday as his muse and killed Andrea for trying to interfere when she found Michonne tied up and abused. It was Michonne he wanted from the start anyway, not Andrea and now he finally had her until eventually Lori convinced Rick and the rest to save her. They sneaked into Woodberry and managed to get Michonne back and left The Governor boiling mad. The people of Woodberry began to fear for their lives as The Governor lost control of things and the survivors of his rampage migrated to the prison, his soldiers also abandoned him leaving The Governor alone and with nothing and no one but anger left to keep him company...
Chapter 1: Stranded
Things with The Governor had cooled off and everyone was finally settled in. Lori was 9 months pregnant and would be going into labor any day now. Rick decided to go on another run for everything they needed for the baby. This time he'd need to go far, maybe be gone for days since all the shops in the city had been looted clean. Lori asked Michonne to go with Rick to keep him safe. Michonne was the toughest person they had and Lori slept better knowing Michonne was watching over Rick. She knew Michonne was a noble woman and she didn't feel the slightest negative about sending her husband out alone with this exotic woman. They packed lightly, only taking enough food and water to last them a few days and some camping gear. They said their goodbyes and headed out, each on their own horse.
After days of searching and nearly giving up, on a cold evening they finally found something valuable. An untouched baby shop in a small shopping center with only a handful of unalerted walkers dwelling around. They left their horses somewhere safe and hidden and sneakily approached the shop. They picked the locks and got inside. They only managed to grab a few things when suddenly the alarm went off, the loud siren attracting all the walkers in the next 50 mile radius. In minutes the shop was surrounded by a horde of walkers. The walkers eventually forced their way through the glass and into the shop. Rick and Michonne ran out the exit that lead to the roof where they would be trapped for next couple of weeks...
The sun was setting and they needed to set up camp before it got too cold. They usually slept out the night in cars but tonight they finally had to get out their camping gear. Michonne opened her backpack and removed her portable tent and sleeping back - Rick realized he had forgotten his.
"Shit." He said to himself.
Michonne looked up at him and smiled mockingly. "Forgot your stuff?" She asked rhetorically.
"Yeah. Always hated camping. Wasn't look forward to using it." He replied.
Michonne looked down at her stuff, thinking about what sharing meant but realized she didn't really have a choice. "We can share mine." She finally said.
They looked at one another awkwardly before Rick finally spoke.
"Yeah, okay. Thanks." He said.
They used a few building materials that they found scattered on the roof and the tent to craft a small shelter. They opened the sleeping bag and used it as a softer surface to sleep on. It wasn't much - a strong wind could blow it away but it was all they had. It was a tight spot, there was no way they could share without parts of their bodies slept back-to-back but sometime during the night it got drastically cold and Rick felt Michonne shivering. It was his fault that she couldn't fold herself up into her sleeping back, because she had to share with him. He turned around and put his arm around her. Michonne instinctively pushed backward into his chest and immediately felt hot. They were so close together that Rick could smell her hair. They both hadn't had a proper shower in days but he didn't mind her scent at all and she didn't mind his, in fact she actually liked it and feeling him, hearing him and smelling him so close for the first time brought her comfort. The last time she was this physically close to a man was when she was The Governor's toy. Rick's touch was gentle and warm, his breath soft and sweet.
Rick's heart was pumping like crazy, Michonne felt fuzzy and he fought to control himself. He had never been this close to another woman before. Lori was his first and current. He tried to prevent any sexual thoughts coming into his mind by thinking of Lori. Just Lori. Michonne smiled uncontrollably to herself when suddenly she remembered Lori. And suddenly Rick's body so close to hers felt wrong but she needed his body heat. She would freeze to death or worse, get sick then Rick would have to carry her ass all the way back if she didn't just ignore the wrong feeling in her gut. She shut her eyes and tried to stay focused on falling asleep. Not allowing her mind to wonder into that place. Rick did the same.
The next morning, Michonne woke up first still under Rick's arm. She had slept so deep, so recklessly. Rick made her feel safe - too safe and she didn't like it. She didn't want to wake him so she gently lifted it off and got up. She opened the tent and got out. The cold morning breeze came in through the opening and woke Rick too. Michonne glared down and found that the walkers were only getting more. It would only get harder to leave. She wondered if their horses were still in one piece. They needed to leave soon. they ate the last of their food from the prison for breakfast. It wasn't meant to last that long. Rick looked over the side of the building and found that the walkers were still gathering. It would have been smart to make a run for it before they were so many but they would have had to leave everything they found including stuff they found before.
"Hey." Rick greeted from behind her, almost startling her.
"Hey." She greeted back.
"They're not getting any fewer." Rick said when he walked up next to her and glared down at the walkers himself.
"Its gonna take at least four days before they start dispersing." She explained.
Rick tilted his head to the side in confusion as he looked at her. "Have you done this before?" He asked.
"Yup. With Andrea. We were stranded in a shop. We waited for one week straight for them to lose interest in us. But Andrea got sick and we had to leave. I managed to kill a few walkers, took their arms and jaws off and put ropes on them. Its an old trick of mine but it works. The rest of the walkers don't notice me when I walk around with my roped ones." She explained.
"Wow. Wish I knew that before. Thought it only worked if you covered yourself in their guts." He replied.
"Yeah but that's a last resort. Its just... really gross." She joked.
"Yeah. I'll use your way next time. It's definitely less gross." He replied sarcastically. They both chuckled.
Now that they were well rested and could think clearly, they formulated a plan to grab a walker and use it to escape. And they did just that. They used Rick's method because they didn't have any ropes. They carefully opened the roof entrance and let one walker onto the roof. Michonne sliced its head off with her katana while Rick struggled to shut the door. They gutted the walker and covered themselves with its insides. The roof entrance was overrun and they had to find another way down. Fortunately there was a ladder in the back. They packed up everything they had and made their way remained undetected all the way back to their horses which were still safe and sound. They mounted them and headed back to the prison.
It would take them days to get back home, and judging by the cold breeze in the morning it would be even colder than before. That would mean they would probably have to cuddle up again. And they did just that, both slowly accepting and expressing their attraction to each other. One night while they sat around the campfire their cuddling turned more emotional as Michonne explained what The Governor did to her. Rick couldn't resist hugging her. Even if she didn't show it, Michonne was hurting badly. He hugged her and their lips found their way onto one another. With nothing but the sound of the fire-wood cracking and crickets in the night, they both drifted off as they kissed. Michonne was the one to come back to Earth and break it off. They spoke about Lori and how they couldn't do that to her. They agreed and put out the fire before getting into a nearby car where they'd spend the night, each on their own seat...
