- New update. I think I've been through about 70% of the Richonne fics that are on this site. That's a shame. We need more Richonne fics. I'll make it happen. -
Chapter 10: Up a Creek
A Couple of Hours Before
"There are not many babies in this world so the infant sections are usually still stocked pretty full," Michonne said as she led Daryl and Glenn to where she, Maggie, and Sasha had found the pharmacy. "I remember there being quite a bit of stuff left. We just took the few things that we thought we'd need but...if there's any acetaminophen, it'll be there."
Daryl listened with his crossbow raised to take care of any walkers coming their way. He let an arrow loose into the skull of one that was skulking nearby and Glenn stabbed another one in the head with a knife. "There are definitely more o' these things shufflin' around," Daryl said, letting another arrow fly after collecting his last one. "We gotta get in and get out with that ace stuff."
They got to the pharmacy with barely any trouble despite the increasing number of walkers. Michonne sliced the heads of two walkers who had stumbled their way into the store before making her way to the section she needed to get to. Like she said, the shelves were still moderately full.
Daryl went inside and closed the door, peering out of the glass with his back pressed against it. He didn't like how the walkers were starting to gather up out there. Ten more minutes and they would have at least twenty of those things pressing down on them and banging on the glass. "Hey, hurry it up," Daryl said. "We ain't got time."
Glenn went to help Michonne find what she was looking for. He picked up a white bottle with a red label. "Hey, is this it?" he asked.
Michonne took the bottle, relieved. "Yeah," she said. "That's it." She pushed the medicine into her bag and grabbed a few more things just in case. "Okay," she said. "Let's go."
"Damn. Where are they all coming from?" Michonne heard Daryl mutter. Slinging the bag over her shoulder, she looked around to see about thirteen walkers milling outside and pressing themselves against the pharmacy glass because of the people inside.
Michonne unsheated her sword. Daryl glanced back at Glenn and Michonne to make sure they were ready before he threw the door open and quickly stabbed two walkers in the brain with an arrow he had clutched in his hand. Having made a hole for himself, he slipped through before arming his crossbow and turning to try to clear more of the walkers from the street. Some walkers piled through the door of the pharmacy while some focused on Daryl. Michonne and Glenn slashed and stabbed their way free of the pharmacy, Glenn retrieving one of Daryl's arrows from a fallen walkers skull on the way. He knew how troublesome it was to constantly shoot, retrieve, and reuse the arrows. "Thanks," Daryl said, when Glenn handed it to him.
The group of three began to retreat away from the pharmacy and the walkers that were bearing down on them when another small group of walkers began to accost them from the direction that they were headed towards. Daryl took two out with his arrows, Glenn rushed forward to stab one powerfully through the top of its skull before he stepped back to focus on another, and Michonne turned to take out some of the ones that were coming up behind them.
They were so busy fighting off the walkers in their direct proximity that no one noticed when their distancing became a problem. A couple of walkers managed to straggle into the space between them. Michonne and Glenn took them out no problem but having seen the opportunity, other walkers began to go towards that same, small free space. And suddenly Michonne was separated from Glenn and Daryl by a small wall of walkers. Glenn worked on clearing them while Michonne focused on the walkers that were now crowding around her back. She knew she had to cut her way to a clearing so she took advantage of the first possible pathway of escaping the crowding walkers that she saw. The only problem was that she was going backwards while Glenn and Daryl got pushed onwards as they battled the increasing herd.
"Shit," Michonne said, once she was on the other side of the walkers, separated from her allies. "Glenn!" she shouted. Acting fast, she took the bag off of her shoulder and threw it to her friend before he could get too far away. He caught it sloppily and swung it wildly, using it as a weapon to distance the walkers. Soon most of the walkers had their attention turned to Michonne, she fought them off but knew she would have to retreat soon. Glenn and Daryl's path forward was almost clear. "Take the medicine to Judith!" she yelled. "I'll catch up!" She sliced through a few more walkers before turning on her heel and running back towards the pharmacy.
"Where are you going?!" Daryl called. "Michonne!" He and Glenn fought for a wild more, hoping to not have to leave Michonne behind but the crowd was thickening. They saw Michonne dodge and cut through the wall of walkers at the door. The entryway to the pharmacy was blocked so Michonne chose to go around the building. Walkers were right on her tail and she saw more coming from all directions so she did the best thing she could think of in the moment. She went up. She sheathed her sword and climbed a tree that luckily stood right behind the pharmacy in what she was sure used to be a nice, decorative patch of lawn used for picnics and small talk. She felt walkers' hands brush against her legs as she went up but she didn't stop. She couldn't stop. When she finally got a safe distance off the ground, she perched on a large outhanging branch and looked down. Her breath was coming in fast puffs from adrenaline.
She was surrounded. Walkers completely encircled the tree while reaching upwards, biting at their entrapped prey. Michonne saw Daryl and Glenn retreat, running back towards the library and the others. Closing her eyes and willing her heart to stop beating so quickly, she told herself to think of something. 'You're safe for now,' she thought to herself, trying to drown out the sound of groans and biting jaws below. 'They can't reach you. Think.'
She had just begun to calm herself down when she looked up to see thousands of walkers coming her way.
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Present
"The herd's coming," Abraham announced.
"Shit. Then we have to go get Michonne now," Rick emphasized.
Everyone besides Carl, Carol, and Father Gabriel – who needed to stay behind and watch Judith – armed themselves for the impromptu mission. "You," Rick said, pointing at Jessie. She was standing back with wide eyes. "You're coming with us."
"What? Why?!" she asked.
"I'm not leaving you here with my children. Let's go." Daryl opened the door to go out but they saw something that caused everyone to stop in their tracks.
"Y'all ain't goin' nowhere."
A man with a slicked back ponytail, leather jacket, and a baseball bat wrapped with barbed wire draped over his shoulder stood at the door, blocking their way. Five other guys were behind him. Two of them fought off straggling walkers with iron pipes while he stood there. Three of the other guys were aiming at the people in the library with automatic weapons. "Well?" he asked, while everyone just stood there staring at him – Daryl had his crossbow aimed at his head. "Are you fuckers gonna invite me in?"
"Who the fuck are you?" Daryl asked.
"Uh uh uh," the man said. "I'm askin' the questions. Seein' as you fucks are the ones ruinin' my fuckin' vacation."
Rick was on high alert. His body was tense and his hand was tight around his weapon. It didn't take him long to figure out that even though his group outnumbered the men at the door, they were at a disadvantage. One wrong move and those automatic weapons could take them all out. His thoughts traveled upstairs to Carl and his baby, Judith. He couldn't let them get hurt. His eyes traveled around the room, looking for a way out of this.
"If we don't get an invite into this fuckin' room in the next five seconds," the man continued. "Lucille ain't gon' be very happy. My mama raised me to be a gentleman...and as a fuckin' gentleman, I can't very well come in without an invite, can I?"
"You're not invited," Rick growled. "Now be a gentleman and don't overstay your welcome."
The man laughed. "Aw, now y'all are hurtin' my fuckin' feelins'. Fellas?" The guys with the automatic weapons stepped inside, their weapons up. Daryl, Glenn, and the rest had no choice but to fall back a bit and let them in. The man stepped inside with them. When everyone was inside, the two men fighting off walkers came in and closed the door behind themselves. "And you've made me disobey my fuckin' mama." He shook his head. "Shame on you fucks."
Rick saw slight movement upstairs and he panicked. He hoped the children and Carol would stay upstairs, undetected. When he got a chance to focus on the movement though, he was surprised to see a shocked Sasha appear upstairs behind the railing. Hope bloomed in his chest. He hadn't known she was still up there – she had probably been checking on Carol before she left. He was even happier to see that she had her weapon with her. He hurriedly focused back in on the men he was facing. If he didn't alert them of Sasha's position, they could have the upperhand. Sasha was a great shot.
"Now I'm gonna have to ask all of you fuckers to lower your fuckin' weapons," the man said. "'Cause we all know who is showing the bigger dick right now."
Rick clenched his teeth together, hating to feel helpless or weak. But he knew he had no other choice. He bent down and slowly put down his weapons. A gun and a machete. The other people in his group who were downstairs followed his lead.
"I don't know what this is about," Rick said, his hands raised. He glanced upstairs; he was glad to see nothing. He didn't know where Sasha had gone. She was thinking ahead. Because surely the men would check upstairs soon. He just hoped she had found a good hiding place. Because they needed at least one person to be armed. "But I'm sure we can work something out." He tilted his head up, looking at the man's face.
"Check upstairs fuckwads," the man called to two of his men. Apparently, he didn't refer to his own men anymore lightly than he did his enemies. They went to do so. Rick wished he could have warned Carl and Carol somehow. "Now, you say you don't know what this is about..." the man said, focusing on Rick again. He signaled to his men to line everyone up and put them on their knees. Rick grit his teeth when he felt the men going behind them and tying their hands behind their backs. His mind was racing, trying to think of ways that they could get out of this. "Well, I'll tell ya 'cause I don't want y'all to think that I'm just some lowly bully."
He turned to face them. His henchmen on both sides of him since everyone was properly tied now. "First off, let me introduce myself. My name...is Negan."
A small gasp came from Jessie. Rick looked over to where she was bound beside him. Her eyes were wide and fearful and she was trembling. He didn't have time to wonder about Jessie's strange reaction because this so-called Negan...continued to speak.
"And this is my best friend, Lucille," he indicated the bat he held, wrapped in barbed wire and a huge grin spread across his face.
"Look at what we found upstairs," one of the upstairs henchmen said, pushing Carl and Carol ahead of them down the stairs. Carol held baby Judith protectively against her chest.
"Oh, lookit!" Neegan said, going towards the group as they made it to the bottom of the stairs. "A fuckin' baby! I haven't seen one of these since – hell, since this world got fucked!" He laughed. "Can I hold her?" He reached for the baby. Carol recoiled and Rick got to his feet.
"Don't you touch her!" he said, in a low, warning voice. His eyes went upstairs again. Sasha wasn't back yet. He began to feel panic in his chest.
"I'm assumin' the little fuck is yours then," Negan said. He smiled and looked down at the boy that had just been brought downstairs. The kid had a hard stare that wasn't wavering. "You the little fuck's brother then?" he asked. He didn't get an answer, only a continued stare. "Tie 'em up and put 'em with the rest," Negan said to his men.
When they were all tied and on their knees again, Negan began again. "Where was I? Oh yeah," he said. "Why we're doin' this. Well, my men and I were just in town for a simple fuckin' supply run and then I hear people comin' back with news that four of my fuckin' men were killed at a gas station?"
Rick cursed inwardly. So there had been more of them.
"We didn't know who the crazy fucks were who did it – since all our men at the gas station were killed – but then we found our boys' fuckin' vehicle covered and hiding outside." Negan paced casually back and forth. "Imagine my fuckin' surprise and delight! That was two days ago. We've been waitin' for the right time to introduce ourselves since then and I think that time has come."
Rick wondered silently how the men had gotten by without anybody from the group seeing them. People had been posted at the windows keeping watch since they had come to the library. Maybe they had boarded the windows too prematurely.
"Now usually when we run across other little...communities," Negan said, gesturing gracefully with his bat. "We strike up some kind of deal. Like...we don't kill everybody in their party...if they just give us all of their supplies. But you people..." he looked around at them. "Do you fucks even have any fuckin' supplies? Y'all look like y'all have been livin' like fuckin' cavemen for a while." He shook his head. "It's a fuckin' shame. I'm tryin' to think of some reason why I shouldn't just kill all of you right now."
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Michonne saw her way out. One of the branches a little higher up, hung out so far that it almost reached the roof of the pharmacy.
Michonne climbed up to that branch, the sound of moans and groans coming ever closer. And the smell was horrific. Michonne inched forward on the branch first, testing the strength of it and gauging how far she would have to jump and fall. Letting out a breath, she took her sword off of her shoulders and threw it onto the flat rooftop first. She then walked back towards the trunk of the tree. She saw her pathway. And took it.
Without hesitation, she ran from where the branch connected to the tree at its trunk and to the edge of the branch that hung close to the roof. She jumped and made sure not to tense her legs so that she wouldn't hurt herself on the landing. The impact of the landing still hurt but she knew she hadn't sprained or broken anything. She quickly stood and picked up her sword.
'Now what?' she wondered, moving over to the edge of the building to look down at all of the walkers that were still gathered around. Her eyes went to the horizon and she sighed. She needed to find someplace safe before that large herd came through.
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"On account of this being your first foray into town and on account of that little fuckin' baby over there, I figure I can just treat this as a warnin'," Negan said. "We'll take what little you do have, like the stash of food you stole from us and take the life of one of your men. Then we'll call it even."
Rick clenched his teeth, a muscle jumping in his jaw.
"So tell me," Negan said with a smile. "Which one of you wants to have an intimate meeting with my friend, Lucille? Oh, come on!" he said after a silence. "She's a fuckin' beauty! And besides...she don't bite!" He laughed. "Okay," he admitted. "I lied. She does bite. A lot." He looked down the line of survivors. "No volunteers?" he asked. "Fine. I guess I'll have to decide then." He moved his bat around in a circle until it landed on Jessie.
A high-pitched squeal of dread escaped Jessie's throat. "No, please..." she whispered.
"Aw now, ain't this a fuckin' shame?" Negan said. "Lucille picked the prettiest girl in the room. She must be jealous. There sure is a lot more I'd like to do to you than bash your brains out, that's for sure," he said to Jessie who now had tears sliding down her cheeks. "If none of you know what I'm eluding to, I'm sayin' I'd rather fuck her brains out instead," he finished crudely.
Rick glanced upwards to see any sign of Sasha. Relief washed over him when he saw the end of her sniper rifle leaning over the railing.
"There ain't no reason why we still can't do that boss," one of his henchmen piped up. "We can fuck her then bash her brains in." He adjusted himself in his pants.
Negan turned to his henchman. "Did I ask for your opinion on anything?" he asked warningly. His henchman was shocked for a moment but then shook his head. "You're still relatively new so I'll let you off the hook like I'm lettin' these fine fucks off the hook. But I hear one more word about you wantin' to fuck somebody and you'll be the one getting fucked. Understand?" The henchman nodded, clearly terrified. "I ain't about fuckin' against a bitch's will," Negan continued. He turned to the group, lined up on their knees. "See?" he questioned. "Ain't I a reasonable son of a bitch? I didn't hold your baby when you didn't want me too, I'm not touchin' your women, and I'll even give that bitch who has her gun pointed at my head a chance to live if she just comes down and surrenders now."
Rick cursed under his breath as Negan turned continued speaking. "I have more men outside waiting with specific instructions to come in here with fuckin' dynamite if me and my boys don't get out of here in ten fuckin' minutes. So the lot of you are wise not to try anything." Rick glared up at him. "What?" he asked. "You don't believe me?" He sent a nod in one of his henchman's directions. The man went to the back door, opened it, and gave a signal. Gunfire sounded from everywhere around the building. They were surrounded. Rick's stomach dropped. "Good," Negan said, seeing the expression on Rick's face. "It looks like you understand me." He turned back to his henchman. "Go get the bitch upstairs and bring her downstairs...minus the rifle.
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Michonne dug her fingers into the walker she had managed to capture and put down. She had managed to get back inside the pharmacy by painstakingly making a small enough hole - with her sword and a lot of digging and banging - for her body to fit through in the drywall ceiling. Then she had dropped from ceiling to floor. This time she had hurt herself. Her ankle was twisted to all hell and an intense pain was shooting through her abdomen. She was assuming she must have bruised it by coming through the hole.
Digging out the walker's insides, she covered herself with it from head to toe. She made sure to put some in her hair as well. She had never traveled together with a herd this size. It was risky. If one got too close...It would probably be able to smell her human scent under the walker scent no matter how much of this stuff she put on. Her heart pounded. She just knew she had to do something. The herd was practically on top of her right now.
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"Now is that everyone?" Negan asked. "I don't want anymore surprises or I can't promise anything. Lucille has a bit of a temper." Sasha kneeled along with everyone else with her hands tied behind her back. She looked frustrated and disappointed with herself.
"Now...like I was saying," Negan continued. "I'm just going to kill one of you. And that's a fair deal. I gotta be quick about it now because that gunfire probably just made those dead fucks headin' our way start comin' five times faster. And I would think the time is almost up before my friends come in here with guns a'-fuckin'-blazin' thinkin' that something's wrong."
One of the guys came back into the room carrying a bag. "Is that the food they took from us?" Negan asked. The guy confirmed that it was and Negan nodded. "Y'all really are getting off really easy here. Usually if a group doesn't have somethin' I want I just kill 'em all. You fucks got it lucky. Now let's see here...Who was I gonna kill again? Oh yeah...the pretty one."
Jessie descended into sobs.
"Look," Rick said, his mind racing. "I'm sure we can work something out."
"No, we can't," Negan responded. "You have nothing I want." He pointed at two of his henchmen and then Tyreese. "You two. Bring him up to the front."
Everyone looked on with unease as Tyreese was placed on his knees before Negan. Sasha shifted as if she was going to get up but a gun aimed in her direction stopped her. "I never could stand the sight of a pretty girl's tears," he said. "So this is for you, muffin tits." With no hesitation, Negan swung his baseball bat hard against the side of Tyreese's head, cracking his skull and causing lacerations to form on his cheek.
"Nooo!" Members of Rick's group screamed. Rick surged to his feet, his vision blurry from rage. Gunfire went off but Rick was surprised that he didn't feel any pain. He thought maybe he was too angry or out of his mind with grief to feel it. But looking back, he would realize that they weren't trying to hit him. They were shooting at his feet and above his head. They wanted the group to watch Negan's madness.
Rick felt arms restraining him and he struggled against them but he knew there was no hope.
Negan was nonplussed by all of the commotion going on on the sidelines, he continued to beat at Tyreese's skull until it was nothing but a mass of bloody pulp. When he was done, he stood up straight and admired Lucille with a grin. "Now," he said to the group. "Maybe if we see each other next time, we can strike up some kind of deal. Have a nice day."
Without saying anything else, he turned on his heel and left. His henchmen followed after him, their guns drawn on the group of survivors until they were out the door and had shut it behind them. Rick collapsed to the floor, his legs weak. He had failed. He had failed to protect his group once again.
Sasha wailed at the end of the line and almost everyone else was in shocked disconnect. Slow tears streamed down Maggie and Carol's cheeks. Tyreese was gone. Just like that.
"We have to leave." Daryl was the one to speak through the despair. "That herd of walkers is comin'. And we don't have any food. They're gonna crowd around this place and starve us out 'cause now they know people are in here."
"Michonne..." Rick said through his haze of shock and despair. "We can't leave Michonne."
"...We have to," Daryl said. He and Rick were now back-to-back and they worked their bindings off of each other. Once their hands were free, they helped everyone else. "We can find another place a few miles out and then once the herd passes, we can backtrack for her."
When Sasha's hands were free, she didn't move from her spot. She only stared at Tyreese's body, silent sobs wracking her own. Carol handed Judith to a shocked Carl and went over to help get her to her feet.
"She might still be in that tree," Rick muttered, his eyes avoiding the bloody mess that was Tyreese on the floor. "She can't stay up there for too long. She needs food. Water..."
"I'm with Daryl," Abraham said. He helped a shaking Tara to her feet. "We can't stay here now. We gotta move. Michonne would understand that. She'd be saying the same thing."
Rick turned to look at Carl, whose eyes were wide. "I don't want to leave her dad," Carl said. "She said she would come back. She's probably on her way right now."
Rick's hand shook and he pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew what the safest option for everyone was.
"I've heard of Negan before," Jessie said. "My husband told me about him. He makes deals with groups that have managed to form themselves into communities, forcing them to give him most of their supplies and stuff...If the community doesn't obey his demands, he continues to kill people from the community until they do. Everyone is terrified of him. And he has a lot of men. If he's in town, we have to leave. We've gotta get as far away from him as possible."
Daryl walked up to Rick, who was still quietly thinking. "Come on, man," he said. "I care about Michonne too. But we gotta go. You know it."
Rick let his hand fall to his side and glanced at Carl one more time before announcing his decision. "Okay, everybody," he said. "To the bus! Gather up any supplies or important materials! We've gotta leave in the next five minutes!" Rick didn't look into Carl's eyes. He didn't need to. He could feel his angry glare like a heavy weight on his shoulders. He was failing everybody. He had failed Noah, Tyreese, Michonne...And now he was failing Carl. "Let's go!" he shouted.
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Michonne walked along the side of the street. She was still a ways ahead of the herd of a thousand but she didn't want to risk any of the walkers around her noticing her human scent either. She walked slowly to blend in better. A ricochet of racket from the distance broke through the silence and Michonne became alert. It sounded like gunfire. In the direction of the library. Michonne sped up as discreetly as she possibly could, her expression becoming fearful. What was happening at the library?
She became even more fearful when she noticed the interest of all of the walkers surrounding her. Their steps became more hurried and their heads more erect. They now had a destination to head towards. Michonne made her steps even quicker.
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Almost everyone was on the bus now. Rick followed Carl up the steps. Daryl and Abraham were the last ones to get on; they were guarding the doors while everyone filed inside. Daryl took out a nearby walker with his arrow while Abraham climbed in and then he climbed in as well. Glenn closed the doors behind them before he went to take a seat with Maggie. Sasha had gotten a seat to herself in the back and had curled in on herself. She was looking out the window at the library they were leaving behind. It was clear that she didn't want to be bothered.
Abraham took the driver's seat. "I've somehow become the designated driver," he grumbled.
Rick placed his hand on Carl's shoulder as they went to find a seat but Carl shrugged away from him and went to a seat by himself. He tried to hide it under his hat, but Rick could see a tear stream down the boy's cheek.
"He'll come around," Carol offered from her seat beside the standing Rick. He nodded, knowing she was trying to offer any comforting words that she could. She handed Judith to him. "Here..."
Rick took Judith and placed himself in the seat across from Carol. He looked down at his baby girl and his dam burst. He wept quietly. He wept for all of the losses they had endured lately and he wept for Michonne. He felt weak. Helpless. No matter how hard he tried to bring them to safety, there seemed to be nothing he could do to keep from losing them all one by one.
The engine started and Rick held Judith tighter. He shut his eyes as they drove away.
In the back seat, Jessie saw something that made her eyes widen. "Holy shit," she breathed. She could just make Michonne out in the herd of walkers. She was covered in gore. "She really made it," Jessie murmured. She was fading farther and farther into the distance when her eyes met Jessie's. Jessie expected her to run after the bus but she just stood there. Left behind. And then she was gone.
Jessie turned back to the front, knowing that she wouldn't tell anyone about having seen Michonne. This was her chance. She had been wanting Michonne gone and now it had happened. She may be alive now but with the size of that herd, there was no way that she could survive that alone. She may be tough but she wasn't that tough.
"What is it?" Father Gabriel asked, noticing Jessie's strange expression.
"Nothing," she said with a shake of her head. "Nothing."
- What's gonna happen?! Haha. I'm trying to keep two updates a week going but sometimes I lose track of days. I think I'm doing pretty good? Anyway...Leave me reviews to keep me going. I'm possibly going to write a Richonne one-shot in the meantime...watch out for it. -