Richonne (Short Love Stories) Coveted Part II (Chapter 18)
The next day, they are preparing to push inside the prison. Rick splits them into two groups just as Michonne had before. Team 1 consists of Rick, Michonne, Maggie, and Glenn while Team 2 consists of Shane, Tyreese, Sasha, and Daryl. The twins, along with Herschel, Carol, T-Dog, and Beth will watch the perimeter and the entrance gate.
The two teams assess the number of walkers in the courtyard, Rick warning all of them to stay in formation and never to break rank. T-Dog and Carol are there to open the gates and close them as soon as the two teams press their way inside. The teams are back to back to face the threat on all sides, slowly making their way through the throng of walkers. Daryl notices a smaller area off the courtyard where the fence is partially opened. Without thinking, he dashes over to the fence to close it, breaking rank. Shane yells out, but quickly closes the gap with the other two, all of them still fighting. The gate closed tightly, Daryl makes his way back to his team. Several minutes later, the courtyard is cleared. They immediately pile the walker bodies off to the side to be burned later.
Tyreese faces the smaller area off the courtyard. "We should clear this area too, then push into the cell block."
Everyone agrees as they prepare for another onslaught, this time allowing only a few walkers out at a time to take them down. Hours later, they are finally inside cellblock C, cleaning out cells and preparing to rest for the night. Michonne and Rick are getting the boys settled into their claimed bunks, shaking out the linens as best as they can. The boys sit on the floor and pull what little food they have left out of their backpacks. Rick takes note of it, already forming a plan to explore the rest of the prison.
"Dad, are you gonna let us help tomorrow?" Andre asks.
"Yeah, we're old enough to help out," Carl insists.
Rick looks to his wife who just raises her eyebrows letting him know the decision is all his. "Let's just get some rest. We'll decide on that in the morning, ok?"
After kissing her boys goodnight, Michonne moves over to the cell next to theirs to make it more habitable for her and Rick. She notices as he walks out of the boys' cell into the common area and drops to a sitting position on the floor, his back against the wall. He closes his eyes and seems to breathe heavily with relief.
She quickly finishes up her task and walks over to take a seat beside him. She grabs his hand, ignoring the dried blood on hers and his, and squeezes softly. "We're here. We're safe."
Rick nods, looking over to give her just a hint of a smile. "I'm glad, but you know we still have a lot of work to do."
"I know. I'll be ready," she tells him. She looks around cautiously, making sure no one is lingering about. She turns her attention back to her husband and slowly peels herself from the wall and straddles him.
Rick can't help but blush. "Babe, what are you doing? I know you're tired because I am."
"Never too tired for you." She leans closer to him, whispering in his ear. "I want you so bad right now. Let me do all the work." She pulls his earlobe into her mouth, biting it gently. "Please."
"Where can we go?"
"The showers are in the back. Surely we can find a stall or something." She laughs as Rick grabs her ass with a squeeze.
"Let's go."
Morning comes all too soon as Rick and Michonne are awakened by their two active boys, ready to start the day. The group meets in the common area to form an exploration plan and to share a meager breakfast of stale protein bars, some dry granola, and water.
Tyreese, Herschel, and the twins are tasked with finding the infirmary and procuring needed supplies, Carol and Beth volunteer to continue cleaning out cellblock C, Daryl and Sasha will be on perimeter watch while Rick, Michonne, Maggie, Glenn, Shane, and T-Dog will explore cellblock D in search of food and other supplies. Everyone, save for Daryl and Sasha, is to meet back in cellblock C within an hour, no later than two.
The first corridor they encounter is pitch black, so Rick, Glenn, and Shane use flashlights to lead the way. They keep close as they round corner after corner, stepping over half eaten corpses, human remains, and bones. Glenn is marking their path by spray painting arrows at every turn. Rick leads them down yet another dark hallway, ready to make a turn. The growls and shuffling feet alert them to the threat before they actually lay eyes on the small group of walkers coming their way.
"Go back. Everybody get back," Rick orders as the group moves back in the direction they came.
Maggie lets out a small squeal as more walkers start piling out of another hallway, forcing them to take an unmarked turn.
T-Dog notices a door secured with handcuffs, so he quickly breaks the cuffs and everyone hurries inside.
Shane takes a nearby broom and shoves it through the door handles in an effort to keep it closed and the walkers out. Glenn and Rick grab a couple of tables and barricade the door.
Michonne and Maggie take a breath and look around, noticing the table benches, overflowing garbage cans, a soda dispenser and realize they have found a cafeteria.
Maggie points to a caged area. "That might be the kitchen. Let's see if there's any food in there." She and Michonne move in that direction but stop once they realize the area isn't empty. Mistaking the movement for walkers, they raise their weapons to strike only to observe 5 men and a female slowly emerge from the caged area.
All of them are dressed in denim jumpsuits except the female has obviously cut off the legs of her jumpsuit and has it unzipped to the waist revealing a white tank top cut in half. Her lack of mammary glands alerts Maggie and Michonne to the type of female she is.
A dark haired guy with a mustache steps forth. "Who the hell are you and how'd you get in here?"
Rick and Shane immediately brandish their weapons and move over to Michonne and Maggie.
The female inmate steps forth with a smile. "Who cares? Look how handsome those two are." She waves at Shane and Rick who look at each other, noticing that something is a little off about this particular female.
"We came in here searching for food. Any here?" Shane asks.
The female steps closer to him. "Why of course. Just follow me."
"Sit your ass down, Brandy. They ain't going nowhere. That food is ours. Try your luck in the other mess hall," the dark haired man advises.
Rick realizes this is a waste of time and they need to move back to cellblock C as they are approaching the two hour mark. "We need to go." He faces T-Dog and Glenn at the door. "Everybody get ready. We're gonna have to fight our way out."
The female inmate pretends to pout. "Don't leave just yet handsome."
Michonne rolls her eyes as she prepares to take on more walkers.
Thirty minutes later, they are back in cellblock C. Everyone made it back safely but Rick's group is empty handed and dealing with the inmates who followed them.
Maggie and Michonne choose to go to their cells and let the men handle the inmates.
"So, you're telling me that some kind of sickness broke out and people that are dead are coming back to life and eating the living people?" A blonde haired inmate named Axel asks.
Shane and the others nod.
"Man, that sounds like a bad movie or something. Y'all got to be joking." Tiny, a tall and stocky man, inputs.
"Go outside and have a look for yourselves," T-Dog suggests.
Rick decides to take a break and seek out Michonne. She is in the boys' cell, helping to sort out the medical supplies they found in the infirmary. Once she sees him, she meets him at the door to find out what was going on with the inmates. Rick clues her in quickly, wanting her opinion on his decision.
"Why would we even negotiate with them? We'll just take what we need," she states.
Rick gives her a questioning look. "That's not how I want to handle this."
"Rick, they're inmates. You have to gain the upper hand. If one of them dies, so be it," she returns.
He narrows his eyes at his wife, not liking the cold, heartless way she is analyzing the situation. He knows they have been through a lot and there is no way he is putting his trust in anything those inmates tell him, but he doesn't want to just flat out kill them either. "I'm going to help them clear the cellblock in exchange for food. I think that's what's best."
He can see his wife doesn't like it, but she agrees.
An hour later, half of the cafeteria food has been brought to cellblock C and they move to cellblock A to start clearing it out. Glenn suggested that the inmates be housed as far away from them as possible.
Tomas sidles up to Michonne with a smile. "So, what's your name? You know it's been a long time since….." He trails off as Michonne moves on up ahead of him. "Bitch!"
Rick stops and points his machete in Tomas' face. "Watch the way you talk to my wife. Now apologize."
"Your wife? Hey, Hoss I didn't mean no harm. Sorry," Tomas apologizes quickly. He narrows his eyes menacingly once Rick turns his back and continues to move forward.
Cellblock A is in pretty bad shape, but they push their way in, trying to school the inmates as they go. In the end, Tiny and Oscar are bitten by walkers and Shane informs Tomas that he needs to shoot them or stab them in the head before they turn.
"Man, you didn't say nothing about nobody dying clearing out this cellblock!" Tomas shouts at Rick.
"What the hell did you expect? We told you what we're dealing with. This shit is life and death," Rick shouts back.
"This is all your fault," Andrew says. "We never should've listened to your bullshit."
T-Dog shakes his head. "The cellblock is cleared. Take it or leave it."
"I think I'm gonna leave it. Why can't we hole up in C just like you doing?" Tomas asks.
"That ain't the deal, man. We already talked this over," Shane reminds him.
"This our house. We do what we want and if we want C back, then that's what's gonna happen," Andrew states.
Tomas lifts his hand, brandishing a gun in Rick's face. "You got a problem with that Hoss?"
Before anyone could utter a word, Michonne counters upward with her sword, severing Tomas' hand.
Rick looks to his wife in complete surprise before giving his attention to the screaming man in front of him who drops to his knees, holding his bleeding handless wrist.
Brandy and Andrew race over to Tomas, then turn on Michonne. She cuts them both down in two swings.
Rick grabs his wife by the waist and hauls her out of there before anyone else dies by her hand. Once they are out in the courtyard, he releases her. "What the hell was that?"
"You have to ask? Was I supposed to let him shoot you? Was I supposed to let them hurt me?" She wants to know.
"No. I just thought we could talk them down or…"
"Talk them down?" She scoffs. "This is not the time for negotiation. Do you think they were going to hesitate to kill us? They went back on the deal you made with them, so they couldn't be trusted. I hope Shane finishes off the last two."
Rick is at a loss. He understands everything his wife is telling him, but it scares him. At the end of the day, it's still a human life in question. He decides that now is not the time to have this conversation with her. He'll wait until later tonight when she has had ample time to calm down.
Shane made the decision to put down the other inmates just as Michonne knew he would. Rick realizes he is going to have to talk with his wife and his best friend.
Later that night, he and Michonne are lying in bed when he opens the topic.
"I understand what you did today seemed necessary to you, but I want you to consider something if we're ever faced with another situation like that. Do you want our boys to kill first and ask questions later? We have survived this long for a reason. There's not many of us left and if we just start picking each other off, how will we ever be able to rebuild humanity?"
Michonne considers his words. "I can't find a balance. You can thank Woodbury for that. You didn't see it, but I could. It was the same way with the inmates. They took a stand, trying to intimidate us, kill us if need be, so in my mind it was us or them. What would you have me choose?"
Rick sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Well, we're going to have to find a balance. It's the only way."
She looks directly into his eyes. "There isn't anything in this world that can keep me from putting you and the boys first. Remember that." She kisses him quickly, letting him know that she is not upset, but she wasn't ready to give up her way of thinking.
The very next day, everything Rick was trying to tell her the night before comes crashing down on her when the boys asked what happened to the inmates. She never lies to her children, so she relayed to them exactly what took place. She is not proud of herself, but in her mind it had to be done. She almost falls apart when Andre tells her he wishes that he could have helped her take them down. Carl agrees with his brother. For some reason, that bothered her. It was one thing for her kids to kill walkers, but to equate a human life in the same realm as a walker's was disturbing. She sends them off to find their father while she steals away in the showers.
She finds an empty stall and once the door is closed, all of her emotions rise to the forefront and the tears spill over. Her boys are growing cold just like she is and she has to do something about it.
For the next few weeks, the group forges ahead to fortify the prison. On several runs, they have managed to procure at least three vehicles, more food and water, equipment, and any other needed supplies.
Glenn and Daryl are now using post hole diggers to place steel fence parts where the walkers seem to gather and gravitate on the prison fences. It will help to reinforce those areas and hopefully prevent a breach.
Keeping busy and helping the prison to flourish has helped Michonne, Shane, and the twins to appreciate life more. The fact that they haven't had a threat, other than walkers, has helped as well. Rick and Herschel took every opportunity they could to give the boys something to do besides brandishing a weapon. Michonne quickly got on board as she realized the importance of what Rick was trying to tell her. She was also essential in reaching out to Shane as she could see he was on the same path as she was.
The group keeps busy as there is always something to do to enhance their life at the prison. Herschel, Rick, and the twins have started a garden. They're planting vegetables and fruit and seem to be enjoying the work. T-Dog helps out as he and Carol keep the water supply going from a nearby creek. Michonne and Maggie have cleared out the library for everyone's use as they have a love for reading and the latter has taken on schooling the twins. The infirmary has been cleared out as well, so Herschel is passing on his knowledge to anyone who wants to learn. Tyreese and Sasha are helping to build a cover for the courtyard and Shane keeps abreast of their weapons and ammo. They all pitch in for mess hall duty, watch duty, and fence duty (killing walkers on the fence).
More time has passed and the family continues to thrive at the prison. Michonne is in the infirmary with Herschel as she has been feeling ill for the last few mornings.
"I'm not throwing up or anything. I just feel really nauseous and this headache won't go away," she tells him.
"Well, you've been eating regularly, haven't you?" Herschel asks.
"You know I don't miss a meal, so that's not the problem," she laughs.
"Now, I don't want you to panic, but….could you be pregnant?" Herschel watches as she continues to laugh, then looks over at him as the realization comes to her.
"No way. I can't be. Herschel, that cannot be true," Michonne states.
"There's only one way to find out. I think there are some pregnancy tests around here somewhere." He gets up to search for them.
Michonne hops up from the table. "That's really not necessary. I'll just…."
Herschel cuts her off. "Just where do you think you're going? Sit down and get ready to take this test or I'll get Rick in here and he'll make you take it."
Thirty minutes later, Michonne is walking around in a daze. The test revealed that she is pregnant. Herschel congratulated her and told her to run off and tell her husband.
She tries her best not to panic, but this is not the time for a pregnancy. Is it?
"So what did Herschel say?"
She jumps at the sound of Rick's voice. He had walked right up on her and she hadn't even noticed. That's how consumed she was.
"Huh? What?" She looks to Rick in confusion.
"I thought you were going to see Herschel about your stomach bug. What'd he say?"
She sighs heavily as she looks into her husband's beautiful blue eyes. "First, I don't know how to feel about this. Second, I put all the blame on you. And third, I'm pregnant." She waits patiently for that last bit of information to sink in.
Rick's eye grow big as he zeroes in on her stomach. "What? You can't be."
Seven and a half months later, they welcomed baby girl Judith to the new world.