"Run!" Carl shouted, and the two of them took off into the woods. They didn't even know if they were being chased, but they ran at breakneck speed, Joy crying the whole time. After a few minutes without hearing any pursuers, they slowed down. Carl reached behind Michonne and took Joy out of the sling, rocking her until she stopped crying. Michonne stared in the direction they had just come from, listening for any footsteps, but there was nothing.

Her heart was rocketing and she realized she'd made a big mistake. She thought it was safe. "We have to get back" she whispered. She and Carl tried to walk as quietly as possible through the woods, parallel with the road. If they were walking on the road it would only take them twenty minutes to get back, but making their way through the dense forest was taking much longer.

"Put her on my back again" Michonne said. "You need two hands free to walk through these bushes". Carl nodded and slipped Joy back into the sling, but she didn't want to be there anymore and started to cry again.

"Ok, ok, I'll hold you Joyjoy" Carl reasoned with her, "just stop crying". Joy, fascinated by Carl like most babies seemed to be, immediately stopped crying. Michonne smirked a little.

"I'll go first and cut down any branches so you can walk a little more easily" Michonne whispered.

They made slow progress, Michonne cutting down brushes and shrubs with her katana as Carl walked behind her. The whole time, Michonne was angry with herself.

I can't believe I brought them out here. I was so sure it was safe. We haven't found people in a year, I thought we'd be ok.

Carl seemed to know exactly what she was thinking through her body language.

"You didn't know this would happen" he offered "and we're ok, we'll be back soon".

Michonne just grunted.

They walked for a few more minutes without hearing any signs of the men. "Ok I'm gonna go check the road, I'll be right back" Michonne said as she creeped towards the tree line. She looked down the road they had just come from and she could see the men in the distance, slowly walking in their direction, but they didn't seem to be actively following them. She also noticed one of the men was missing. Michonne crept back to Carl.

"They're coming this way but they aren't chasing us. I can't see one of them, I'm not sure where he went. He could be in the woods looking for us."

"So what do we do?" Carl asked. Michonne looked around. "Are you good at climbing trees?" she asked.

Carl looked at her skeptically "yea I guess..."

"You climb one of those big trees and wait up there for the men to go by us. I'll get into that dry river bank with Joy. If they go past us we let them go and then dash back to Alexandria, but we have to hide in case one of them is walking through the woods".

"I'm not going to hide in a tree..." Carl started.

"You can give us cover if the missing guy is coming towards Joy and I" Michonne cut him off.

Carl thought for a minute. That made sense to him. "Ok" he said. He handed Joy back to Michonne and he started to climb.

Michonne walked towards the dry river bank and carefully crouched behind a mound of dirt. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Joy playfully pulling on some grass that was growing from a crack in the dirt. As Michonne looked down at her beautiful baby she almost cried from the guilt she was feeling. She should've gone by herself and left Joy with Carl. She was so stupid.

Michonne ran her fingers through Joy's curly hair, a perfect replica of her father's curls. Rick would kill her if something happened to Joy and Carl. She would kill herself. She wouldn't be able to live with the guilt of losing another child. As Michonne tried to stop tears from running down her cheeks, she heard the voices of the men approaching on the road. She looked down at Joy who was still trying to pull on the grass.

Please don't cry, please don't cry. She thought.

As the men approached on the road, she also heard the rustle of bushes nearby. One of them was walking through the woods. Michonne tensed up, holding Joy more tightly to her chest and willing the baby to stay quiet. The rustling got louder and louder.

Michonne could hear one of the men on the road say "You go on, keep walking in them woods like an idiot, when you get ticks on your dick that's your own business". She could hear some of them chuckling.

"I ain't gettin' no ticks" the man in the woods called, and Michonne could hear he was only a few feet from where she was crouching. "They don't like my blood. I been camping out here for years, I ain't never got bit". To her dismay, the crunching of the man's boots got closer and closer.

Michonne looked down at Joy who was looking into her eyes with confusion and possibly fear. Joy was very good at sensing moods and she knew her mother was in distress. The man was now standing directly on top of the mound of dirt. He looked down and noticed Michonne's shoe sticking out the bottom.

"Hey..." he started, but his sentence was cut off by a gunshot. Carl had shot him in the head. Michonne jumped up from the pile of dirt. Carl was trying to quickly climb down the tree he was in. The men on the road were calling to their friend. When he didn't answer, they ran towards the shot, immediately spotting Michonne and Carl.

"Bill you ok?" one of the men called to the man who was shot and lying on the ground.

Michonne could tell the man was dead. Carl was an excellent shot, and he shot to kill. Michonne faced the men with her katana raised, gripping Joy in the other hand. Carl had made it out of the tree and two of the men had guns leveled at him.

"Who are you people?" One of the men asked, looking from Carl, to Michonne, to the baby.

When no one answered, the man looked over at his dead companion. "You shot my buddy" he said pointing at Carl. "He was annoying as fuck, but he was one of us".

Carl just stared at the man, his fingers resting on his gun. Michonne could tell he was debating whether he should shoot or not. She figured she should diffuse this situation quick.

"Your friend was threatening us, we don't know you and he came too close."

"Where the hell did y'all come from? You look way too put together and clean to be living on the road with a baby. Y'all live round here?"

There was silence again.

"Look. We're hungry as fuck, and y'all just shot our buddy. Least you could do is point us in the direction of some food or something. Y'all look like you're eating well."

Carl reached into his pocket, causing the men who were watching him to cock their guns.

"It's food" he said. He pulled out two apples and a granola bar.

"Here, take it and leave us alone" Carl said.

The man took the food and nodded. "Yea that's nice kid, but there's four of us now that you shot our buddy, and this food just ain't nothin' but a snack. We're gonna need a little more. To help with the grieving process."

Michonne's heart dropped. She thought maybe they'd take the food and go.

She glanced at Carl and they communicated with their eyes. They would have to kill these men.

Michonne moved to slowly put Joy on the ground. "Stop moving around" another man yelled.

"Look, I'm just putting down the baby. I see you men need a consolation prize. If you let the boy and the baby leave I'll stay here with you." Michonne said, trying her best to be seductive.

The men looked doubtful for a minute, but they looked distracted. Carl quickly pulled his weapon and shot the man closest to him in the head. Michonne stabbed the man who was talking to her in the chest with her katana.

"Fuck!" Another man yelled, firing directly at Carl as Carl tried to run for cover. Michonne ran at him, causing him to turn toward her and open fire, shooting her in the leg.

"Ahhhhh!" She screamed in pain, then to Carl, "get Joy!"

Carl ran for Joy, scooping her off the ground while firing at the two remaining men who were making a get away.

Joy was crying hysterically now, grabbing on to Carl and throwing her head back to howl.

Carl dropped down next to Michonne who was bleeding profusely from her gunshot. "I... I don't think it's too deep" she whispered through gritted teeth. Carl looked around for something to wrap around her leg to stop the bleeding.

"Here, let me take off Joy's wrap, we can use the fabric to wrap your leg".

Michonne nodded, and Carl wrapped the fabric as tight as he could on the wound.

"We need to get out of here now" Michonne said. "They may come back".

"We can't just walk down the road" Carl replied.

Michonne couldn't believe how bad this was getting. But they had been out for about an hour, someone would be noticing they weren't back soon.

She breathed heavily trying to think of her next move.

"All we have to do is hide until someone comes looking for us" Carl suggested. I know of a cabin a little way up. We can go there. Daryl knows that place too, it's probably the first place he'll look if we're not on the road."

Michonne nodded. It was a plan.

Carl reached out a hand and gently pulled her up. She tried not to groan but every movement sent sharp pains through her injured leg. She held on to Carl, who was holding Joy, as they tried to limp through the forest as quietly as possible.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It took them 15 more minutes to get to the cabin because of Michonne's injury. Carl cleared the cabin since it didn't have a lock and there was no telling what was in there, while Michonne balanced on her good leg and held on to Joy. As she looked into her baby's eyes, the guilt she felt was overwhelming.

"I'm so sorry for taking you out here Joyjoy" she whispered as she pressed her cheek against Joy's, tears running down her face.

Carl came back out and noticed Michonne crying, "c'mon mom" he called softly, "it's clear". He put an arm under her shoulder and helped her limp inside.

Michonne gently sat on a chair, with Joy in her lap, as Carl drew the shades and pushed the couch against the cabin door.

"We've made enough footprints for Daryl to track us here." Carl said confidently.

Michonne nodded and looked away.

Carl knew she was upset. He pulled up a chair next to her.

"Thank you," he said, causing her to look up in confusion, "for taking a bullet for me. You distracted that guy for me".

Michonne shook her head. "You don't ever have to thank me for that Carl, it's my job."

He nodded "and it's my job to protect you and Joy too. Like you said, a man does what he has to do to keep his family, right? So that's what I'm gonna do."

Michonne smiled and stroked the top of Carl's head. "No matter what happens, when it comes to marrying Enid, you have my blessing".

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sherry watched the horizon closely. Michonne, Carl, and Joy should have been back a half hour ago and she was beyond worried. She was tired of waiting, something had to be done now. She moved to climb down the ladder of the lookout tower.

"Hey where are you going?" Father Gabriel called.

"I'm going to get Rick" she called back.

She ran to the church where Rick was meeting with Ezekiel. She burst in through the doors not bothering to knock.

"Rick! They're not back yet" she said.

Without another word Rick got up, and sprinted to the parked cars.