Chapter 21: "Flushed Out"
Later that night evening, Maggie, Rosita and the other women took up a few hours of their husbands sentry duties so that they can rest up and then visit with the children and Michonne now that she has woken up.
They were also assisted by the few original Alexandrians that they can trust until Abe and the others returned to their post on the wall. Carl, Enid and the rest of the Alexandria youth arm maintained regular foot patrol within the community.
Everyone was monitored. The guys freshened up at their homes and they met up at the Grimes residence. After an hour or so with their children who were in Denise and Tara's care they made their way upstairs. They stood nervously outside the door. Abe knocked.
"Come in."
Abe opened the door. They saw Michonne kneeling at the side of the bed playing with her baby son with Judith close by and Rick gently rocking his daughter in his arms. Upon seeing Michonne, Abe ran up to her. He hugged her, lifting her off the ground. She groaned from the pain on her right side of her body
"Hey hey..be gentle." Rick playfully warned.
"Sorry." He put her down.
Glen and Daryl stepped forward and presented her with flowers. Michonne blushed and hugged them both. She looked at Abe. He looked at Glen and Daryl and grinned, reaching into his back pocket.
"What is the one thing you love the most?"
Michonne squinted her eyes at first..then got excited. Rick, Glen and Daryl looked at them. Michonne then squealed in delight when Abe pulled out two large Big Cat chocolate bars. She hugged him again despite the pain.
"Suck up…" Daryl grumbled..folding his arm across his chest. Rick and Glen laughed at him.**********************
After the visit...the men resumed their duties and the women congregated back at the Grimes home. While they were downstairs, Rick filled her in about everything she missed while she was unconscious..about Paula….all of it. She sat thoughtfully, absorbing it all in. Rick sat opposite to her.
"What are you thinking?"
"It's been two days since the meeting in the church, right?"
"Yeah..so?"
"And no one even attempted to come near the gates?"
"No."
Michonne shook her head, very slowly.
"This guy is not going to make a break for it. As long as you have 24hrs patrol, he knows he wouldn't stand a chance of leaving here without being seen. Especially with everyone on high alert. He had the good sense to give up his walkie talkie so nothing can be found on him, even if random searches was conducted."
Rick looked at his wife trying to follow her reasoning.
"The longer we have the patrols...the longer he stays among us and the more damage he could do. He has been careful up until now and he knows we don't know who he is. The patrols are actually giving him the protection he needs to stay hidden here."
Suddenly, they heard a commotion outside and Abe screaming at the top of his lung. Michonne and Rick rushed to the windows and saw two men scuffling on the ground. Rick rushed downstairs.
"Hey! Break that shit up! Now! Abe yelled at the men.
Michonne watched as Daryl and Glen pulled apart the warring men, with Abe standing between them. She also made a secondary observation. She smiled. ***************
Twenty minutes later, Rick turned home in their bedroom.
"Is everything OK?"
"Yeah. Some accusations was made concerning the traitor among us that someone didn't like. So they decided to settle it with fists. Only a few bumps and bruises were suffered."
"Hmmmmm-"
"What?"
Michonne straddled her husband's lap then she kissed him. He licked his lips. He missed that.
"What's that for?"
She pulled back from him...slightly offended.
"Oh..so I need a reason to kiss you now?"
"Oh hell no!"
He pulled her close and kissed her. She looked at him more intently now.
"You trust me right?"
"Yeah..without question. Why?"
Michonne smiled. He saw the wheel turning in that attorney brain of hers.
"We need an Alexandrian we can really trust to pull this off."
"Ok...I'm on it!"
Rick left the room.*************************
The next morning the residents of the ASZ was on their best behaviour as per the warnings that Rick and Abe gave the night before. There were no more scuffles and it seems that the two men have settled their differences.
Paula had been given no food and very little water since her capture and Michonne is counting on her being in a weakened state to factor into her plans. Later that evening,Tobin came shouting from the north side of the wall.
"Someone's trying to escape!"
The residents began flooding out of their homes to the north entrance all hoping to get a glimpse of the traitor. Rick ran to the house where Abe was guarding Paula and almost immediately both Rick and Abe came running out from the house towards the direction of the north wall.
Suddenly, when the coast was deemed cleared, a figure witha backpack on their back quietly opened the door to their home. They dashed across the streets of Alexandria opposite to all the commotion straight into the house where Paula was being kept.
The man dashed cold water on a weak Paula.
"Come on! We need to get out of here! Now! Before they come back."
Because of the injuries to both of Paula's legs and one of her arms..the man was having difficulty getting her to feet.
Paula looked at the man in bewilderment.
"Who the f*ck are you?!"
"Who am I is not important! I guess there was more of us still here than I realized. Someone made a dash for the north gate. I thought I was the only one left."
The man tried to lift her again but she was just dead weight as her legs failed her. "Get up!" The man cursed at her.
"I can't! Just leave me."
"Are you crazy?! I can't leave you here! You've already said too much!"
The woman finally got to her feet and the man dragged her up the stairs…into the open. The streets were still clear.
'I feel sorry for the poor sap that tried to make a run at the north wall. Now everyone's after them.' the man thought.
The man and Paula hobbled down the street towards the north side gate. He propped Paula against the wall while he tinkled with the locks and after a few minutes the locks fell open. Pulling Paula's weight against him on her feet they went through the gate.
They hurried towards the trees. It was the man who spoke first.
"What did you tell them?"
"Nothing that's useful." she laughed. "Stupid f*cks!"
"You told them about Dwight and Negan. What else did you tell Rick?!"
"I didn't tell them about Dwight."
"Yes you did. Rick told us at the church meeting."
The woman grabbed him by the shirt collar and they came to a screeching halt.
"I'm telling you..I didn't say anything about Dwight. Rick asked me about him like he already knew who he was!"
The man stared at Paula baffled then slowly dropped her to the ground.
"If you didn't tell him then how….?
The man swallowed hard.
"Sh*t" he mumbled to himself.
"What?" Paula shouted at him.
The man closed his eyes, trying to recall if he made a mistake somewhere. He wanted to gag when he realized what he had done. He reached down to pick her up.
"We need to get home fast before…"
He didnt finished his sentence when he heard Paula sharply gasped as she looked passed his shoulder behind him. Then the voice boomed behind him.******************
"Don't…..f*cking….move."
The man froze in mid air as Paula slipped from his grasp back to the ground. The backpack slid from his slumped shoulders.
"Please..don't kill me!"
"Kneel." The voice commanded.
"Please don't…."
"I said to f*cking kneel!"
The man slowly obeyed as he watched the colour drained from Paula's face. Then he heard footsteps approaching him from behind to walk in front of him. He closed his eyes...he didn't want to see the bullet coming.
After a few seconds of staring at the culprit, the voice gasped.
"You…."**************************