Inspired by and dedicated to Zeejack.
Never Will I Let Go – Part 6
Fifteen minutes on the road and already Rick missed Michonne. The farther he drove away from home, the more he missed her. The night before, they made love. That slow, deliberate, sensual lovemaking still reverberated in his heart and in his loins. As he drove the old rust bucket down the road, he recalled every infinitesimal moment of that night. The feel of her body. The softness of her skin. The smell of her hair. The taste of her lips. The soft cries and moans she gave as she called his name over and over, again and again. Michonne stuffed one of her head bands in his pocket just before he left home. He was tempted to take it out and play with it, hold it over his face and sniff it. Oh how he missed her. But, with Daryl right next to him, he thought the better of it.
Sitting behind them was Sasha and Tobin on either side of the RV. Odin was in the room far back. Sasha got up and checked up on him and he was doing fine on his own. Perched on a bird stand that Tobin made for him, he spent a copious amount of time preening himself. He gave Sasha a quick up and down look when she stuck her head in and went back to his preening.
"That bird gave me a look.", Sasha said returning to her seat.
"He check you out?", Daryl asked turning around in his seat to face her.
"Yeah.", Sasha replied sounding perturbed.
"He did that to me too.", Daryl added.
"I think he is cool.", Tobin said laying on the long seat with his bad leg resting on a pillow.
"Heads up. We got company.", Sasha announced. Her voice fell.
Rick applied his brakes, the RV slowly came to a stop in the middle of the road. A gang of six armed men, stood a short distance away facing them.
"Shit. I thought you said they were done patrolling.", Daryl said to Rick while he kept his eyes forward, studying the men as they slowly approached.
"I did. That's what Dwight said.", Rick replied.
"Guess these ass-holes didn't get the memo.", Sasha said while Tobin looked on pensively.
A thick heavy-set man holding a rifle walked up to Daryl's side and said,
"Where y'all headin'?"
"Hilltop. We need a doctor.", Daryl replied.
Then there was a loud bang on the side. The side door flew open and a tall thin man with a heavy moustache and sloping forehead entered. He sneered and looked around pointing his automatic rifle at everyone. Slowly, all four occupants raised their hands up in the air.
"Rick. Right? We met before.", he said looking at Rick.
Rick didn't say anything. But, he did remember the man. He remembered him all too well. His name was Wade. Rick recalled hearing Negan call his name that night. He remembered the same sneering smile he gave and just about now, he wanted to smash his teeth down his throat.
"Y'all wanna step outside.", Wade ordered.
Everyone got out of the vehicle except Tobin who stayed put. Wade looked at him and didn't take into account him resting his leg on top a cushion. Another Savior with a gun let himself into the cabin and went about searching the cupboards, drawers and closet as he made his way to the back room.
"Dude. That means you too.", Wade said to Tobin.
"P..please. My..my leg's ...", Tobin began nervously, his face was covered in sweat.
Wade bent down and hiked the ragged cuff of Tobin's torn pant leg up. Tobin grimaced and winced.
"Holy shit. Yo. Sam. Come and look at this.", Wade said standing up with a wide-eyed expression on his face.
The bloodied rags wrapped around Tobin lower leg had a bone partially sticking out of it. Sam, the other Savior came out of the back section and stood next to Wade and checked out Tobin's leg. He screwed up his face when he saw the blood and bone then said,
"Cabin's clean."
With that, they both exited the RV and Sasha, Daryl, and, Rick were allowed back in. Daryl hopped into the driver's seat, Rick sat in the passenger's seat next to him. Sasha returned to where she sat before. Before they moved on, Wade said,
"Tell Doc Hanlon I said 'Hi'".
~~0*ooo*0~~
Relieved, the four could now breathe easily as they put some distance between themselves and the six Saviors. They were thankful that the guns and ammo they hid were not found. Some were well hidden behind the wood panels of the interior walls, under the seat that Tobin was sitting on and under the floor panels of the RV.
Rick got up and went to the back room. He was concerned about Odin. He was surprised that when the RV was being searched, the Saviors, Sam and Wade didn't encounter a large black bird.
"They bought the broke leg story. Nice job Tobin.", Sasha said giving him a high-five.
"Man. I can't wait to get rid of that old piece of walker bone.", Tobin said looking down at his leg.
He thought it was best he kept on the bandage and bone until they got to their destination. There was no telling that they would meet up another check point again.
"Just be glad Rick didn't actually break your leg to make it look real.", Daryl said as he continued driving.
Rick returned with Odin on his arm. He didn't hear the conversation and wondered why Tobin gave him a horrified look.
"I found him hiding under the sheets. Smart fella ain't he?", Rick said proudly and stroked the bird's cheek.
"Rick, Rick..ohhhhh Rick.", Odin suddenly rang out.
Much to everyone's surprise, the bird spoke. On top of which, he sounded exactly like Michonne. He mimicked the very words she said the night before when she and Rick made passionate love. Needless to say, Rick was more than surprised. He was embarrassed. His cheeks turned beet red.
"Michonne, hmm, baby.", Odin cried out again but this time in Rick's sultry voice.
"Holy smacks. He can talk.", Tobin said and began to laugh real loud. No one has ever heard Tobin laugh before and here he was laughing up a storm.
Sasha and Daryl couldn't help but laugh too. They laughed so hard that tears sprang from their eyes. Rick spent the remainder of the journey in the back room.
~~0*ooo*0~~
Three hours later, the sun was high in the sky. After they had lunch, Carl and Judith went out on the porch and sat on the wicker rocking chair. As he held his sister on his lap, he handed her a sippy cup filled with warm chocolate milk. Michonne joined them afterwards carrying a bowl of raw meat cut into small pieces. She rested the bowl on the railing and leaned up her katana on the pole.
"Why isn't he back?", Carl asked out loud and looked at Michonne.
Standing only a few feet away from him, she could hear the concern in his voice and she began to wonder the very same thing. She wondered if the bird lost his way or he saw other ravens and joined their flock. She hated to think it but she wondered if Rick and others ran into difficulty. Were they taken? She didn't know. She looked at Carl then looked ahead over and beyond the walls. She closed her eyes for a short while and prayed. She prayed that Rick will come back home. She prayed that he, Daryl, Sasha and Tobin were okay. She prayed for Odin's swift return.
"He'll make it.", she said sounding positive.
For the next ten minutes, they waited and waited. Judith quietly took a swig from her cup. Then, something caught her eye. She cooed excitedly and pointed up at the sky. It was Odin. Black shiny wings spanned four feet wide. His feathers shone in the sun. So black he was, he appeared blue. He flew right up to them and landed on the railing next to where Michonne stood. He flapped his wings once more before he settled down.
Carl stood up with Judith in his arms and walked up to where Odin was perched. They all petted him, happy that he made it back home. He soaked up all the love and attention he was getting and emitted tiny clucking sounds of contentment. Michonne took Judith from Carl and allowed him to check Odin's tiny sachet. When he extracted a tiny piece of paper from out of it, their hearts swelled in excitement. Carl unfolded it and read the tiny inscriptions it bore.
"We're safe. R.", Carl read and he and Michonne gave a sigh of relief.
Michonne was beyond relieved. She wanted nothing but to see Rick run up those porch steps and gather them all up in his arms and hug them. She wanted nothing but to feel him, to taste him. She forced herself to stop thinking about their last moments together for she feared she would lose it. She had to keep it together for the kids.
"Well, Odin, sky god, you must be hungry.", Michonne said and presented him with the bowl of meat and placed it on the floor in front of them.
While they watched him hop to the floor and eat, they smiled down at him. Judith clapped her tiny hands together. Michonne looked at Carl and said,
"You did it. I'm proud of you."
"Thanks. But he did most of the work. He deserves that bowl of meat.", Carl said referring to Odin.
"He's a remarkable bird.", Michonne said.
"He is. When I found him, I thought he wouldn't make it. He was so thin and frail. He felt small in my hands. Denise said if he didn't eat, he was going to die. After she wrapped his broken wing, she told me keep him warm and to try feeding him oatmeal. I took him home and did just that. I fed him every two hours, the whole night through. The moment he showed improvement, I gave him a bunch of other things. Apricots, berries, worms, meat.", Carl said.
"Where does he sleep?", Michonne asked out of curiosity.
"While he was mending, he slept in my room. Sometimes he'd fall asleep on my stomach while I read to him. Now, he sleeps outside. Probably in a tree somewhere. Sometimes he hangs around for a bit before he disappears for a long time again. He comes and goes as he pleases.", Carl said.
"Maybe whenever he away, he is looking for a mate.", Michonne said.
Carl picked up the empty bowl once Odin was through. The bird climbed up on Carl's arm. He looked as though he was going to stay for a while.
"Ravens can mimic sounds. I remember reading that they can talk as parrots do.", Michonne added.
"Denise said the same thing too. I've been trying to teach him to say 'hello' but so far nothing.", Carl said.
"Maybe he'll surprise us one day. I'm taking this young lady to Uncle Gabe before I start my next shift.", Michonne said smiling at Judith.
With Judith on one arm, she grabbed her katana and headed for the steps.
"What are you going to do for the rest of the day?", Michonne paused and asked when she got to the bottom of the stairs.
"I am going to fill the bathroom sink with water so that Odin can take a bath. And then we're gonna hang out together. Just us bro's.", Carl said.
"Well, see you bro's later.", Michonne said and chuckled and departed taking Judith with her.
Her heart felt lighter knowing that Rick was okay. But, above all, she missed him.
~***000*ooo*000***~