AN: Sorry for the last false update; the chapters looked all discombobulated and needed some cleaning up. I'm also sorry that it took a while to update this (apologies are all over the place). Busy time and all ~ I also think we're near the point where Rick can have some redemption here (I've noticed that in some of my fics he isn't looking too good in the relationship department, and that might come from my own personal issues where someone is in the doghouse and is trying to scratch their way out…anyway).
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the reviews! Y'all are making this girl blush (especially Phantom)! BTW, I love many of your stories too and can't wait for your updates, but I understand how this time of the year is hectic.
Chapter 7: A New Beginning
He rubbed his eyes to see if he saw what he thought he saw. Indeed, it was still there. He had seen all types of corpses for the past few years. There was the dead guy who walked around with his heart and intestines hanging out. Several could only move using their arms to propel their severed torso. There were also a few so flattened to the ground by moving vehicles that they became part of the road. But this? This was new and not something that just "happened". There had to be at least 10 dead ones laying on the ground, missing arms and lower jaws. He ran off to tell the others - they had company.
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Maggie Greene woke up on an incredibly sunny day. She rose from the arm her husband sacrificed as her pillow, and instinctively rubbed the blood back into it. Her eyes took in the vast warehouse and all of the supplies it held. Her friends, her family, were all peacefully resting with the exception of Abraham and Rosita on watch duty. She knew she was painfully blessed in a cruel world. Her studies in college exposed her to some realities of ongoing evils, but that past failed in comparison to the corrosive present. She was the last of the Greenes, but she wasn't alone in that solitude. The pain would take a while, but she'd be okay.
Baby Judith had slowly awaken and ruined l rubbed her adorable lathe eyes. Maggie swept her up before she could begin her morning cries while near her father. She began humming the songs that flowed through her household every morning except Sundays. Mornings used to be hard, but now they were golden.
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Daryl loved humor. He might have been outwardly annoyed when Carol called him "Pookie", but he looked forward to it every time. It was the many ironies of life that always got him as well.
"Okay, I like to laugh too. What is it?" Carol inquired as she slung a rope full of dead small mammals.
Daryl stopped his minor chuckle and rubbed his chin. "Michonne can be cruel."
The good friends stared at each other for a few moments, and burst into laughter.
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"Do you need anything else, Father Gabriel?"
The clergyman pause in thinking was periodically interrupted with "hmmm" and hand rubbing. Rick changed his stance and have movement several times, trying to calm the urge to take his machete to his head.
"I want to say...yes, but, I don't know. Maybe we should put the pew there instead. "
Abe was right on time with his teasing giggle to Rick's growl. The Ringleader bit his lip when he noticed that, but continued to move the pew to a new location. They had been, wait, scratch that. Rick had been working on Gabriel's sanctuary since breakfast. The anger rising up in him was familiar to what he felt towards the Governor and the Termites.
After he finished moving the newly made furniture, he had to get something off his chest. "Gabriel, you care so much about this," he waved his hand at the makeshift church, "but what about your survival?"
Gabriel was perplexed. "Whatever do you mean?"
"I mean, you don't know how to fend for yourself in this world. You're concerned about a damn church, still haven't killed a walker."
"It is against the faith to kill."
Rick cocked his head. "They're not human."
"But they once were."
"They once were," Rick retorted. "They're not anymore. You're luck you made it this far. You're lucky I haven't killed you."
Gabriel flinched. "By the grace of God and faith, I've made it this far. This isn't the first time you said that." His sweaty fingers patted a handkerchief on his forehead.
Rick glared at him. "No, it isn't. I'm not with you, being so oblivious to what's going on. But your stupidity shouldn't kill the rest of us."
Gabriel swallowed. "Okay, I understand that. But we all fall short and make mistakes. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me? I just needed to know..."
"You didn't want to trust us. Carl and Michonne protected you, and they didn't have to. My daughter could have died because you're an idiot."
"That was unnecessary," Gabriel quietly stated.
"Well, don't expect me to be nice."
"I don't think Michonne would like that."
Rick deeply sighed. "What else do we need to do?" Rick grumbled. He had to say one last thing, "you better keep praying that she won't let me kill you."
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Their laughter roared through the building - enough to make Rick think it was at his expense. He looked to see the two women weren't paying attention to him, and continued to play with Judith as he talked with Carl and Noah.
"And that's when I learned, depending on crack perm had to come to an end," continued Sasha. "Freaking walkers had to show me that natural hair was the only way to go."
Michonne continued to smile, picturing her friend's struggle with uncontrolled hair while fighting for her life. "Well I guess if you weren't such a fighter, you would not have made it."
Sasha shook her head. "I guess, but it was hard to get used to. So much was happening- after a while I forgot what that stuff was, and that once upon a time it was important." They were suddenly silent. "So, how long have you had dreads?"
Michonne discontinued a frown. "Oh, in high school. I fell in love with Erykah Badu's dreads, just to find out it was a wig!"
Their laughter erupted once again. "Do you think Rick knows anything about it?"
"Girl, please! I've caught him staring at them way too much. I'm just waiting for him to ask to touch one."
"When will you let him off the hook?"
"When would you?"
Sasha's eyebrows scrunched up. "I don't know. I did some stupid stuff after Bob died, but I'd be pissed off in your shoes too. I'd give it a while. But time is short."
"I know." Michonne looked at Rick when he couldn't notice. "We finally admitted who we are to each other, and then..."
Sasha nodded her head understandingly. "Did you ever meet her?"
"No" she hesitated. "I showed up the day after she died. She was beautiful. There was a picture of the three of them, looking so picture perfect. It might sound stupid, but it was as if I was competing with a ghost. But the same thing could have happened to him if the shoe was on the other foot.
Sasha felt blessed. Michonne was opening up more and more to her; so she did exist before the Turn! She wanted to ask questions about her past, but let it be. "Hmm well your man and my brother must have had the same type of woman. Tyrese has forgotten that I exist." They laughed again.
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It wasn't just the night air giving her Goosebumps. Rosita walked quickly to where Glenn was posted.
"Hey," she loudly whispered. "I feel like someone's watching..."
She felt a burning pain in her leg. Her fingers touched the sticky outpour of blood. Glenn yelled out and many rushed to the outside with their weapons. Clearly, they weren't the only residents of Alchipoa.
