AN: Wow! I know it's been a long time, but I've got the urge to try to get back to this one. I really want to find the motivation to put the notes I've made on this and stored for safe keeping to good use and get this story out there.

If you're still reading, I appreciate it. I hope to have more out for you soon and not take such a ridiculous break as last time.

I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

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Michonne was meticulously organized. She'd created for both of them, on some dingy colored paper they'd found in a drawer in the kitchen of the house, lists of essentials. Two bags, one for each of them, packed correctly would be all they absolutely needed to have packed to move on.

The bags, once prepared, would stay that way, standing at attention, waiting for their departure. They could go instantly, in a heartbeat…no matter what came knocking at their door, they could split and find safety.

Andrea dropped out of the truck that they parked a little off from where they were actually intending on filling the sacks they would obtain while they were there. Her landing kicked up gravel and a piece of it lodged in the ankle of her boot, so she leaned down, digging her finger between skin and leather to pry it back out.

"Are you coming?" Michonne asked, rounding around the truck.

"Rock in my shoe…just a sec…" Andrea answered.

Freeing the rock, she stood up and in three quick steps was standing beside Michonne who wore, for the moment, a concerned expression on her face as she looked around.

"Something's off…" Michonne said.

Andrea looked around and finally looked at Michonne, confused.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

The place was quiet…as quiet as anywhere else was when most of the population of the world was dead.

"Something's not right…" Michonne said.

Andrea looked around again. The place looked like an abandoned town. It looked like it had on their last run. There wasn't anything off that she could see and nothing was registering on her radar, but obviously there was something creating a blup for Michonne.

Then again, Andrea had already figured out that Michonne was high strung, and she had a tendency to be a little paranoid. Andrea was trying to convince herself that it didn't bother her. She was trying to convince herself that the paranoia, like so much else that she was slowly learning about Michonne, was just a little character tick. A flaw, perhaps, in an otherwise perfect human being. She was trying to convince herself it was adorable and that it would never, in no way shape or form, drive her crazy.

"I think it's fine…" Andrea offered, trying to soothe over whatever had seized her companion.

Michonne shook her head.

"There aren't any Walkers," she said, dropping her voice a little.

Andrea looked around again. Indeed, the streets were empty at the moment. There were no Walkers to speak of, not even the straggling few that seemed to be ever present anywhere you went.

And for a moment, it struck Andrea as odd.

But then she dismissed it.

"Probably herding up somewhere," Andrea said. They'd seen enough herds that she'd come to think of Walkers as pack animals. They may not have too many residual brain functions left, but apparently they had the instinct to herd, or at the very least, their interest was piqued by other Walkers and therefore they just naturally herded up.

In fact, Andrea had become so convinced of her herding theory that she almost considered the straggling Walkers…the few that they found wandering aimlessly and alone…as being lost…they were waiting for other Walkers to pass by in the world.

It was difficult to tell whether or not Michonne accepted her explanation, but there was something of a shrug offered by the woman. She nodded her head a little, though not in agreement to anything…at least not anything that was verbalized, and started forward, her boots crunching. Andrea picked up her own step, keeping in line with Michonne as they headed in the direction of the building that they had picked out as suitable for their looting.

They walked along, quietly, no need for conversation. As they neared the building, the door already busted out from previous visits, Michonne pulled her katana in preparation for the Walkers they would likely encounter…the stragglers who had wondered in, and stupid as they were, couldn't get themselves back out into the open without the motivation of a handy meal.

"You got your list?" Michonne asked, her voice low.

Andrea simply nodded at her.

"In and out…let's do this quick," Michonne said. "I don't like the looks of this place today…"

Andrea ignored the paranoia and nodded her head. Fine, in and out…it wasn't like she had any real desire to spend a lot of time lounging around in the half destroyed department store.

Michonne stepped through the set of broken doors first and Andrea followed after her. They'd brought flashlights, though small and pocket sized, but their goal was to use them as little as possible. It was early enough in the day that they shouldn't need them too much, especially once their eyes adjusted to the darkness.

Once inside, they went in slightly different directions, putting a little distance between them to more efficiently gather the objects they desired, but keeping enough proximity that they could reach each other quickly in the case of some sort of emergency.

Quickly enough, Andrea found a mesh laundry basket, and for a moment she stopped, remembering that Amy had one similar to this that she'd packed in the back of the car when Andrea was taking her back to school…back when all this had happened and Amy was still alive…back before they'd ever run into Dale on that stretch of highway.

Andrea shook her head, shaking out the memories for the moment. This wasn't the time or the place for them and she could deal with them elsewhere. The basket, for now, would be perfect for holding everything she gathered together…everything she needed from the list that she squinted to read in the semi-darkness.

And slowly she worked to put items into her basket, keeping an ear open for Michonne's shuffling a number of feet away and open for the sounds of possible approaching Walkers…none of which they had encountered yet.

But the sounds that Andrea finally heard drifting around her weren't the sounds of Michonne nor of Walkers. She heard, and she almost didn't believe her own ears because it had been a little while since she'd heard it, the sound of a man's voice…and then she heard the din of other voices. It was the sound of a conversation…a conversation between living people…and at the very least there were three of them.

Andrea's interest was piqued, but she was on edge too. She couldn't tell in the echoing building exactly where the sounds were coming from. She stepped forward a little, nearing the end of her aisle and she tried to tune her ears into the voices to hear what they were saying and where they might be coming from.

"Hey…hey…the more the merrier…never got enough," one voice said, a man's voice…from what Andrea could hear at the moment, they were all male voices, though at least one of them was a little higher pitched…the cracking sound every now and again of a man's voice that hasn't yet dropped entirely…the sound of someone still working his way through puberty.

"Shouldn't we go see what it was?" The cracking voice offered.

"Weren't nothing…hell…when's the last time you saw someone weren't with us? Told ya…was another one of them dead'uns," one said.

"Was a woman and we oughta check it out…she might need help," the cracking voice chimed.

A laugh…a chuckle…

"Yeah…let's go help…damsel in distress!" Ribbed one of the voices.

"Let me get my steed…" Another ribbed.

Andrea stood still for the moment. She'd identified more or less the direction of the voices. If she stepped out from her aisle, turned, she thought, to the right…Michonne was to her left…then she should come face to face with the voices. She should come face to face with the men. Living men…another group…another group that likely had more members somewhere…men out on a run…

And Andrea hesitated for a moment, trying to decide what to do.

There was safety in numbers. Wasn't that the old adage? A large group could mean safety. It could mean better preparation. It could mean more supplies and a better chance at surviving all of this.

But it was a larger group that she had come from…a larger group that she had trusted. It was a larger group that she had thought of, even for the short time they were together, as something of a new family. And it was a larger group that had left her.

Maybe there was safety in numbers, but maybe the safety was only owed to certain people?

Andrea felt conflicted. If she revealed herself…if she sought out the men, wherever they were located somewhere to her right in the department store…then there wasn't any going back. There would be some kind of interaction. It could be good or it could bad. They might insist she go with them, might be trying to build their numbers. And that could be good if she wanted to go with them…but if she changed her mind, they might not be as willing to let her go, or let Michonne go…

Andrea nearly jumped out of her skin when a hand curled around her mouth and pinched her nose shut. A strong arm pulled her back against a body and her brain almost exploded with fear for the moment. One way or another she was had…she was caught. No matter what she wanted or what she thought, she was in someone's possession.

But as her brain calmed just a little with the passing of a second or two, a familiar scent entered her strained nostrils and the feel of a familiar body was recognized, pressed against her back.

"Be quiet…come on…" Michonne whispered, her mouth so close to Andrea's ear that her lips brushed the ear and the air tickled.

Andrea nodded her head and Michonne removed her hand from her mouth.

Andrea turned, abandoning all thoughts of revealing herself to the men that she'd heard talking for the moment and followed Michonne, leaving there the few things she'd collected, back out the way they'd come. She copied Michonne's stance, bending down, and she moved as rapidly and as quietly as she could without either colliding with her companion or outrunning her.

Once their feet hit the concrete outside, Michonne stood up straight and her gait picked up speed as she darted back in the direction they'd come…back in the direction of the truck that probably hadn't even had a chance for the engine to cool entirely.

Andrea copied her, though part of her brain asked her why. Part of her brain asked why they were fleeing when the men that they were leaving behind could be good men…and the group they were running from could be a good group. This could be their salvation and they were running from it like rats from a burning barn.

But Andrea didn't voice any of the concerns.

They reached the truck and Michonne was in, flicking the wires together and bringing the truck to life, before Andrea could fully swing her body inside and shut the door. As she closed the door, Michonne let the vehicle lurch forward and they sped away from the town as though they were outlaws.

It wasn't until they were on the road again, Michonne's face set and determined, her eyes locked on the road, that Andrea decided to speak.

"Why are we running?" She asked.

"You wanted to stay?" Michonne asked, something of bite to her voice as though that would be ridiculous if Andrea said that's what she did indeed want.

Andrea was conflicted, but she'd brought it up and she wasn't backing down from the conversation now.

"I mean…what if they were good people? We could have at least talked to them…together…" Andrea said.

"We're two women…they were five men," Michonne said.

Andrea hadn't seen them. She hadn't known how many there were. Still, five men would have been relatively easy to gather together at different times in her old group.

"They were out on a run," Andrea said.

"And they might have been looking for more than supplies," Michonne said, nodding her head slightly. "I got a look at them…they made me uncomfortable."

Andrea chuckled ironically.

"So now we're judging them by how they look? You weren't the most inviting figure I ever saw when I met you…" Andrea said.

Michonne frowned and looked at Andrea.

"And neither were you, but you didn't make me feel uncomfortable," Michonne offered. "You want me to take you back? You want to go with them?"

Andrea scoffed a little at the accusation in Michonne's voice. It was accusation that she didn't feel she deserved.

She was sure, though, that they weren't done talking about this…it had been their first possible encounter with other living human beings and Michonne had treated it as though they were in eminent danger, whether or not that was the case. Andrea wasn't sure how she felt about that.

She could see, though, that Michonne was not in any mood to be rational at the moment nor to discuss this, so she shook her head slightly, gazing out the window at scenery that she'd seen before, noticing two stray Walkers…close enough to be holding hands if that's what Walkers did…walking along the edge of the road.

"No, Michonne," Andrea said somewhat quietly. "I don't want to go with them."