A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews and follows. Hope you enjoy this next part.

Chapter 2.

"Maggie, I'm sorry." Michonne finally stated as she finished explaining to Maggie what had happened to Glenn. She could see it in her eyes. The doubt, the worry, the shred of hope that she was undoubtedly holding on to. How many times had she been there before? She gave Maggie a hug before continuing on to her next destination. Her maternal instinct kicked in as her next thought jumped to Carl and Judith.

As she walked along the battered streets of Alexandria, her mind traveled to the past. Memories of returning back to a run-down camp with no one waiting for her, but the dead consumed her thoughts as she headed towards home. Every part of her wanted to run, escape this never ending dream and live a life of solitude somewhere by the sea, but she made a promise. She was done running. She was done taking breaks.

"OPEN THE GATE!"

Michonne immediately turned towards the gate as the sound of approaching walkers gradually increased. She ran towards the gate hoping that maybe Glenn made it out alive, only to be greeted by a tattered and bruised Rick. A hoard of walkers swarmed the gate as Rick ran through. Just at a glance she could tell that something was wrong. He immediately jumped into leader mode as he spoke to the worried crowd of spectators.

"You haven't had to see any of this before." Rick began.

Michonne watched as Rick spoke to the crowd. He looked worn-down and exhausted, but apart from that something was different about him. She couldn't quite place it, but she knew.

"The walls will hold. We are going to get through this." Rick finished as he looked around making sure to avoid any eye contact with Michonne.

Michonne watched as the crowd slowly dispersed. She wasn't sure they were going to make it. Deanna was going through something, while everyone else was simply waiting to die. With the walls surrounded by walkers, the mood within Alexandria had turned grim and desperate. Michonne wasn't sure how they were going to get through this. Her family was in pieces and something was off about Rick. Michonne sighed as she reminded herself of her promise, "she was done taking breaks."

Michonne entered the house unsure of what to expect. For all the action that had taken place over the last couple of days, the house was oddly quiet. She entered the living room and sat down on the couch, finally taking a break. It had been about an hour since she had returned to Alexandria, but she hadn't realized how exhausted her body was until that moment. Tiredness. That had become her life now, constantly being tired. She chuckled to herself trying to remember a time when she wasn't tired.

"Was she ever this tired before?" She thought to herself. Then she remembered that week that Andre began to walk. The running around, chasing after him, and trying to make sure he didn't get hurt. Now, that was the most tired she had ever been. It seemed bizarre now to imagine herself that way. She could remember those moments, but it was becoming increasingly harder to see herself in them. She was a different person now. This new Michonne simply didn't fit into her old world. This new world had changed her. She knew how to survive in this world, but wasn't sure how to live. Her mind immediately went to her conversation with David. His words still rang in her mind.

"We found Betsy on our way back to the community. She still saw me. After I thought I was dead and gone. She was my first friend. Then she was more. She made me more. Even better than I was."

"Betsy." She whispered to herself.

"Who?" Carl asked as he joined Michonne on the couch.

"How's Judy?" She replied changing the conversation. She pulled him into a hug as he sat down beside her.

"She's okay."

"I'm proud of you. You did a really good job of protecting your sister." She whispered to him as she finally let him go.

He nodded acknowledging her words all the while looking uneasy.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Michonne asked looking at him with concern.

Before he could answer, Carol burst through the door.

"Michonne. Hey, we need you!" Carol declared completely unaware of the conversation she interrupted. "Rick wants to increase the number of people on duty and these people are too scared to be useful."

Michonne glanced at Carl with concern before she got up from the couch.

"Talk later?" She said as she followed Carol.

"Yeah." Carl replied as he got up from the couch to check on Judith.

Michonne sat in the guard tower wondering when the sky had gotten dark. She was currently running on fumes, but she didn't care at the moment. Watching and waiting, Michonne finally had time to let the day's event sink in. She made a mental list of things that she needed to do. Talking to Carl was number one on that list followed by checking on Maggie, then Deanna and the rest of the Alexandrians. It was probably best if she patrolled the neighborhood tonight. These people were unraveling and who knew what could happen. Michonne sighed thinking back to the crowd's reaction to Rick's speech earlier. The fairytale was truly over. Speaking of Rick, she added him to her mental list. She needed to check up on him or at least talk to him. Ever since his return, he had kept busy, to the point that it felt like he was avoiding her. It was strange. She felt this sudden disconnect from him, but wasn't sure where it came from. Something was off about him, but she couldn't place her finger on it.

"Michonne."

Brought out from her thoughts, she found Morgan waiting to relieve her from guard duty. Nodding towards him, she began to exit the guard tower.

"See anything out there?" He asked.

"No. See anything down there?" She replied.

"It's pretty quiet. Everybody is either asleep or too scared to make a sound."

She handed him the gun before heading out. It didn't escape her attention that he flinched when she placed the gun in his hand. Michonne added him to her mental check list as she left the watch tower. Morgan was right. For the first time, since she had arrived, Alexandria was eerily quiet. She began her patrol wondering if Rick was doing the same. It wasn't a particularly cold night, but the slight breeze made her shiver. Once again, she was alone with her thoughts. Michonne walked down the street taking in the scenic houses. Each house had something symbolic that represented the people living there. The Johnsons had a little wooden J hanging on their front door, while Mrs. Needleman had an array of gnomes on her front yard. Once upon a time, she would have mocked these symbols, but now she found them charming. She wondered whether David had a little symbol in his house. Immediately, her thoughts returned to David's words.

"But if I could make it back, I'd want to say goodbye. Tell her that finding her in all this that was everything."

"Betsy." She whispered to herself. Michonne added her name to her mental check list. Tomorrow, she would find Betsy and tell her what happened to David.

As Michonne rounded the corner to begin patrol on the next street, she saw a bright light coming from Jessie's garage. She knew the walkers wouldn't be able to see it with the protection of the wall, but they had to be more careful now. As she approached the house, she saw someone standing next to Jessie. It was only when she got closer did she witness Rick kiss Jessie. In that moment, her heart dropped. Maybe this was the reason that she felt so disconnected from Rick. She slowly backed away from the house and continued walking down the street. Michonne wasn't sure how to react. The thought of Rick falling in love or being with another women was such a foreign concept to her. They had spent so long on the road that they never had time to dwell on these things. For a while there it seemed all they would ever do was kill walkers and keep moving. She had never thought of a life in this new world. A life filled with love and companionship. Was she ready for that? David's words rushed back to her.

"I wasn't crazy, I just gave up on being a person...then we found Betsy on our way back to the community. She still saw me. After I thought I was dead and gone, she was my first friend. Then she was more. She made me more, even better than how I used to be."