Surprise! I didn't know if I was going to continue this story but inspiration struck and this is what came of it! Hope you like it!

Chapter 14

It had been several weeks since Michonne and Rick had officially become a couple. Alexandria was coming back stronger than ever with the Alexandrians now taking initiative to protect their home. Their little society had continued like nothing happened, including Rick and Michonne. No one had been surprised when they got together, except themselves. Michonne recalled a specific conversation they had about how neither one of them ever thought the other would follow through with their undeniable connection. Rick had cracked a joke about them eventually being common law married and raising kids together without ever getting together. Part of her thought she would have been okay with that life but now that they had become more there was no going back. The two of them had become inseparable. They tried to keep affection to a minimum in public since they were the new leaders of Alexandria but when they were inside their house they couldn't keep their hands to themselves. There had been some awkward moments with Carl but nothing too scarring. He was pretty mature about giving them privacy and not making the situation uncomfortable.

Michonne had come to rely on Rick on a deeply emotional level she never thought possible before. They would lie awake at night and talk about their pasts that still haunted them or their fears for the future. Rick knew more about Michonne than most of her friends and family did before the apocalypse. She could talk to him about Mike and he would talk about Lori sometimes. It was nice to finally be able to let her thoughts out after holding them in for so long. In some ways it felt like they had been together all along because their relationship was already in such a mature and developed state. She had gotten to know a different side of Rick that she never would have guessed. He had a bit of a romantic side. One morning she woke up to the smell of honeysuckle and when she opened her eyes there was a bundle of honeysuckle blossoms tied together on her nightstand. He attempted to cook dinner one night to very little success but the evening was still one of the best she has had in a very long time. Rick had been smiling a lot more recently and getting along better with the Alexandrians. She felt that he was really starting to see a future for this place.

Michonne woke before the sun and rolled out of bed. Today she was taking Carl with her on their weekly scavenging trips outside the walls. It took some convincing but she had managed to get Rick to agree to let Carl go with her. It allowed Carl and Michonne the chance to spend time together without Rick. They hadn't really discussed their relationship with Carl but they didn't think it was necessary since they have been living together the past several months.

She lightly tapped on Carl's door before pushing it open slowly. He was already awake and ready, tying his boots as he sat at the foot of his bed. He finished and stood up as she walked in,

"I'm ready. Let's do this."

"Okay. Let's go."

They reached a couple miles out from the walls before deciding to stop at an old farming supply store. She knocked on the glass door a few times testing to see if there were any walkers inside. After a few moments they went inside. Michonne wandered up and down the aisles looking for anything that could be useful. She walked past the fertilizer and the mulch and turned to go down the next aisle. On the middle shelf was a label for dog food but the shelf was empty. She took a few more steps and stubbed her toe on something. She looked down to see a single bag of dog food on the floor just as Carl walked up. He saw her looking at the bag on the floor, "Are we getting a dog?"

"I always wanted a dog but I was always too busy to take care of one."

"We had one for a while when I was a kid but it ran away. Didn't like me much anyways."

Michonne reached to pick up the bag and threw it in the cart a couple feet away. She turned to Carl who was looking at her with his brows raised in confusion.

"Are we taking that?"

Michonne smiled, "I think it's time we get a dog."

"I'm all for getting a pet but in case you haven't noticed there are no more pet stores and I think the shelter is closed."

"Okay smartass. How many dogs have we seen out and about? We just saw one by the dumpster on the way here."

"You're going to tame a wild dog?"

Michonne exhaled with a shrug, "Can't be that hard."

"Good luck. Dad would never let me get another dog no matter how many times I asked every year for Christmas and birthdays."

Michonne smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "I think I might be able to persuade him."

Carl shrugged off her hand, "Ew, gross."

"That's not what I meant…perv."

They split up, Carl moving on to the auto shop next door while Michonne looked through the stock room of the supply store. Most of the store had been picked over but there were still random items left behind they might be able to use. She bent over to pick up a hatchet when she heard gunshots from next door. She ran out the door and through the garage calling Carl's name. She didn't see him and he was not responding. She started to panic. She heard the faint groans of a zombie coming from a few yards away. She search through the garage and found nothing. She made her way into the offices and the groaning got louder. She went into one office and found nothing. She crossed the small hallway and entered the next office…nothing. When she walked out the door of the second office she spotted and foot hanging out of the next office doorway. Her breathing stopped as her mind jumped to the worst conclusion. She grabbed her sword and held it in front of her. She turned the corner inside the office and looked down. A walker was squirming on the floor with a bullet hole in the side of its cheek. She stuck her sword in its head when she heard a whisper, "Michonne."

She walking around the large desk to find Carl sitting against the wall, the side of his face covered in blood. She sheathed her sword and squatted down next to him, "Oh god! What happened?!"

Carl moaned incoherent sounds on the verge of unconsciousness.

"Hold on Carl. We have to get you out of here." She wrapped his arm around her shoulder and lifted him up. She got him to the tow truck in the garage and laid him down in the passenger seat. She ran back into the office and grabbed the keys from the board and climbed into the driver's seat.

They drove up to the gate of Alexandria and she tapped the horn drawing Tara's attention from the perch. Michonne rolled down the window and stuck her head out, "Open the gate!" She drove straight through the entrance and right up to Denise's front door. As she climbed out of the truck Denise came running outside and opened the passenger door, "What happened?" Denise and Michonne carried Carl inside and placed him on the table. Carl had slipped into unconsciousness on the drive back. Looking at him lying on the table Michonne couldn't help but start to cry. She had kept her emotions in check in the panic of getting him back but now she was left with nothing to do but realize the situation. Denise immediately started working away, having gotten over her initial fear of being the town doctor. Michonne could tell she was in Denise's way so she backed away several steps until she was against the wall. She stood there and watched as Denise tended to Carl's head. Michonne didn't get a good look at the actual wound because of all the blood covering his face. She kept playing the moment she heard the gunshots and the moment she found him sitting on the floor over and over in her head. A feeling from her past that she never wanted to feel again was creeping back up. She was terrified of losing another son. Denise walked over to Michonne and kneeled down in front of her. "Did you see what happened?"

Without looking up Michonne nodded no.

She heard Denise sigh, "Carl has slipped into a coma. He has a gunshot wound on the side of his head pretty close to his right eye. We won't know until he wakes up what the full damage is."

"I have to tell Rick."

"He's not here."

Michonne looked up to see Denise looking back at her with smeared blood on her forehead. "What?"

"He went hunting with Daryl. He left right after you and Carl did. He thought he would be back before you."

Michonne felt numb. Carl was laying ten feet away from her in a coma with a gunshot wound to the head…and Rick wasn't here.

Denise placed her hand on Michonne's, "Carl will wake up. He's young, he'll be able to fight it." With a couple pats she let go of Michonne's hand and went to her desk to search through her medical books.

Michonne wasn't sure how long she had been sitting there when Rick ran through the door but it had felt like an eternity. He ran to the table and froze next to his son's side. Denise stood across from him and explained what was happening and told him she was very optimistic about Carl regaining consciousness. Michonne was afraid to look at Rick. She knew the second he looked at her she would break. She was still sitting on the floor against the wall with her head on her knees and her arms tightly wrapped around them. She wanted to make herself as small as she felt. She heard the footsteps before she felt him slide down next to her. Without speaking he put his arm around her. They sat that way for a longtime waiting for Carl to wake up. It was dark out when Michonne finally lifted her head. She didn't see Denise but Carl was lying on the table in the same position with a large white bandage wrapped around his head that covered his right eye. The sight of him lying there, helpless and in a coma hit her hard. She turned and wrapped her arms around Rick's torso and buried her face in his neck as the tears began to fall. He wrapped his other arm around her and held her tight as he whispered to her, "It's not your fault."