MOUNT FALLS- TWO DAYS LATER
Shane was lucky. In some ways, he always had been. Except, of course, when it came to love.
He managed to get into Mount Falls by sort of telling the truth. He had no choice because Eugene was there, pointing fingers and half crying, about who he was. Or who he thought he was. Eugene's distress seemed to make Negan and Deke grin!
But Negan was no fool. Neither was Michonne. Or this Michonne. And they both wanted to know where he had been, before he fell in with the Whisperers. Shane described the town that he had lived in, in the other universe, only he gave it a different name, in case Rick had told either of them a lot about it. He called it, 'Bay Pines' and said that the leaders tried to make a town of it, very much like how Alexandria and even Mount Falls was. Shane admitted that he had a background in law enforcement and had been the Sheriff there.
Shane then said that a hoard of walkers got in and killed up half of the town. The other half, he didn't know where they were. Everyone was on their own now and he had been 'surprised' to not run in to more people from there.
When asked why he left Alexandria, Shane was a little more blunt. Wearing the walker masks creeped him out and he didn't quite understand what Rick Grimes was trying to do there. Half the people were hungry and Rick was overly concerned with his personal life. Shane wanted to be someplace where he could earn his keep and see results.
He also warned that Rick was up to something. Probably an attack on Mount Falls, so Maggie could be rescued and Michonne returned to Rick.
Oh, and they also thought his name was 'Frank' as well…
Maggie was really the only person he would have to deal with and his plan was to take Michonne from here, before Maggie saw him. He heard she was in the local jail here and Negan, while not completely trusting him, did believe he knew something about being a cop. Negan could always smell one a mile a way. He told him he would be working with 'Sheriff John' over at the jails and told him to go over there. For now, he could sleep in the house behind the jails, with John.
Michonne, however, was suspicious of Frank. But not for the usual reasons. There was something about him that reminded her of Rick, and that bothered her. Maybe it was the was he spoke or something. 'Frank' and Rick, certainly didn't look anything alike. Maybe it was his manner, but she didn't feel as if she could shrug off the vibe she got off of him. Maybe it was because both Rick and this Frank, were cops back when the world was normal. That and she had made the mistake of shrugging off Nick Clark and look what happened there.
Unfortunately, there had been no time for anyone to question 'Frank' further. Sheriff John came over, shortly after Frank's arrival, to tell them that Maggie had managed to escape her jail cell! Negan wasn't buying that shit and suspected Mrs. Rhee had sweet talked Sheriff John or fucked him for the key to the cell! So Negan got the equivalent of a posse together to look for Maggie, which now included Frank.
And Sheriff 'Yappy' John, was demoted back down to helicopter pilot. Frank was the new Sheriff in town…
Two days later, it was determined that Maggie had gotten out of Mount Falls, with the help of two 'John's'! Meaning Yappy pilot John and Father John! Negan sincerely hoped that wherever his brother and Maggie were, they would hook up and he could get the woman off of Negan's ass! Still, Negan needed to make sure that neither of them were busy plotting against him or in Mount Falls. Negan could see Maggie talking his brother into killing him, so she could have her revenge, and his brother could have Michonne.
Meanwhile, Michonne didn't want the kids to see all of the tension in the community. With Negan gone, along with several men, to look for Maggie and Father John, Michonne was determined to keep the peace in Mlount Falls. She didn't like the fact that Father John had left with Maggie, and that was because she didn't trust Maggie not to hurt him. And if that happened, Judith and RJ would be devastated. And so would Michonne, if the truth be told. Father John, to her, was what Negan could be. And he was a good friend. Michonne hated the fact that Maggie used him to escape and rest assured, if she was civil to Negan's brother, she was just pretending. Pretending until the right moment came along to either kill him, or God knows what.
At the moment, RJ was at a friend's house, that had more action figures than he did, and Judith, was with her. They were having a girl's lunch at a small restaurant called 'Mount Falls Cafe', with tables outside. Judith was looking over the menu, when the owner, a portly man around sixty, named Gerry, asked to speak to her. Michonne got up and went inside the restaurant with him.
"What is it, Gerry?" she asked, noting that the cafe looked full today.
"I hate to bother you, but I'm almost out of wheat, rye and barley. Usually, the former Governor of this town brought me all that I needed. I have asked Deke, Negan's assistant for what I needed, but he never seems to get around to it." Gerry said in a humble sounding voice.
"How long until it affects business?" Michonne asked in a low tone.
"A week, maybe two."
"I'll speak to Negan. We will get you your supplies." Michonne said, hoping that her voice did not betray the fact that she was not sure Negan, or herself, could do just that. Gerry smiled gratefully and Michonne left the inside of the cafe and returned to the table with Judith…only to find that Sheriff Frank was now there, talking to Judith. He looked over at Michonne and smiled. Michonne smiled back, thinking that he did that with such ease. Smiling, that is.
Meanwhile, Shane, could not help staring at Judith. He had noticed it the first night he arrived here, when he was in Negan's house and saw her, how much she looked like his younger sister, Jenna, when she had been a little girl. Judith definitely looked like Lori, but there was something else that he could not put his finger on. He dragged his eyes off of the little girl and focused on Michonne.
"So, how're you feeling this morning?" he asked, looking her up and down.
"I'm good. How about yourself, Sheriff?" Michonne asked politely, trying not to think of the gluten shortage issue they were now facing.
"Well I'm off to the local mall. There have been complaints of the homeless living in the abandoned stores there."
Judith raised a brow and looked at Michonne.
"Homeless? What's that, Momma?" she asked.
Michonne looked just as dumbfounded! In a way, everyone that didn't live with a group, inside of walls, was 'homeless'. But Sheriff Frank was saying that there were homeless people within Mount Falls? She clenched her jaw. She had better take care of this. Granted, they were living in an abandoned mall, but everyone here lived in houses or apartments. Negan was liable to either take his bat to them or gun them down. And he would probably frame it on someone living here as well!
"Those are people that don't have a house to live in here. Or an apartment. Sometimes they have to find abandoned places to live in." Michonne said.
"Why?" Judith asked.
"I don't know why, baby. Your Uncle Negan has tried to make sure that everyone has a place to live. I'm going to find out though." she told her. Shane frowned.
"Michonne, that's my job. I don't think you should go down there." he advised her, his eyes giving her body a cursory glance. He would be perfectly fine raising Negan's baby as his own, once he and Michonne returned through the portal.
"And it's my job to make sure things in this town run smoothly. I just want to see what is happening and why."
"And I'll do that." Shane told her.
"I want to go too." Judith added.
"No! Look, try and see this from my point of view, okay? Negan would have my head if he knew I put you in a situation like this."
Michonne and Judith opened up their purses and revealed guns! Somehow, for whatever reason, Shane was not surprised. In this world, outside of certain walls, everyone had to know how to defend themselves. He could tell that many of the townspeople here, had been protected from that reality. And some had not. Clearly, Michonne and Judith fell in the latter.
"Okay, but put the guns away." Shane said, his eyes darting around. "You'll scare people."
Michonne and Judith stood up.
"I don't want people to be scared," Michonne said, "but they need to be careful and on their guard. And inside these walls, there's a tendency to forget that the world went to hell. We just want to see what's going on."
"You think it's wise to take her?" Shane asked, referring to Judith. Judith raised a brow. She wasn't going to say anything, but Sheriff Frank had told her, when her momma had been in the cafe, that his last name was 'Castle'. How stupid did he think she was? RJ and herself had a lot of Marvel comics and that was The Punisher's name! So either Sheriff Frank's real name was a comic character's(which Judith doubted), or he was lying about what his real name was. But why?
Judith had been watching an old detective show on DVD that was found during a run, by her Uncle Negan. It was called 'Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries'. Judith liked the Nancy Drew character, though the Hardy Boys were alright too. But she suspected that she had found a 'mystery' to solve. And that was who Sheriff Frank Castle really was? Or at least what his real name was. Because Judith was now suspicious that his first name might not even be Frank!
"Judith can handle herself better than most girls her age," Michonne said, "I made sure of it. And if we are all going to live together, then we all need to deal with the problems of this town."
Shane still didn't like it, but he could also see there was no changing Michonne's mind. He would just have to look out for both of them.
"I have my car over there." he said, sighing.
It was obvious to both Shane and Michonne, that this 'mall', had been closed long before the world went to hell. There were vines on the complex and a lot of overgrowth in what used to be the parking lot. The mall itself was vast and when Shane did a drive around, he could see that at least four buildings would have been department stores. He wondered if Negan even knew it was here? Michonne had not, that he was sure of.
Judith was wide eyed as Shane stopped the car and got out. He looked back in the car.
"Both of you stay…"
But Michonne and Judith were already out of the car, guns cocked! The parking lot alone was a jungle, hence a place someone could hide in. Shane drew his own gun and the three of them carefully made the trek to one of the buildings. Michonne's eyes roamed over the mall, thinking that there was no way there was heat or air conditioning within the unit, having been shut down so long ago.
Suddenly a noise, long familiar to Michonne, made her tilt her head to the left.
It was growling. Walker growling.
Michonne sprinted in front of Shane to shoot it in the head, wishing like hell she had her katana, but Shane grabbed her wrist quickly!
"We don't know how many more are in this parking lot alone!" he hissed. "That shot could bring out a hoard! Let's get back to the car and go back to town. We'll gather some people together to fence off the mall."
Michonne slowly lowered her gun. Sheriff Frank was right and she should have known that. If she had shot that walker in the head, others could have come out, swarming them. The one walker they did see, saw them and tried to hurry after them, but he got tangled in some of the brush and fell down. Shane, Michonne and Judith backed back, slowly and quietly, before turning around and making their way back to the car. Once inside, Shane noticed Judith was quiet and he knew what she had seen scared her. He looked over at Michonne.
"We have a problem." he told her. Michonne nodded.
"I know we do. Clearly people have died and now Mount Falls has a walker problem. I'm surprised more haven't shown up in the main part of town." Michonne mused, looking out at the mall from a distance.
"We have to do something!" Judith cried out. "We can't just let people die and turn! Maybe they're dying because they're hungry!"
Michonne looked back at Judith, who was in the back seat.
"We're going to talk to your Uncle Negan, okay? He will figure something out." she said, then got out of the car. Shane told Judith to stay in the car and he followed Michonne a short distance away from the vehicle.
"We don't have time to wait for Negan and the group he took with him to find Maggie, to return here. This has to be taken care of now. I'm going to talk to John about flying one of the helicopter's over the parking lot. Maybe we can get an idea of what we are dealing with from the air." Michonne said.
Shane nodded.
"Okay, but we still have to deal with what's inside the mall."
"I know but they can't open doors, so they're contained—for now. That can wait for Negan's return. Walkers running loose in this jungle, cannot. I hope we've caught this problem in it's early stages." she mused, just as the walker they had been avoiding, came stumbling out of the brush, along with several others! Shane removed a knife from his waste belt and stabbed one in the head, but Michonne, having nothing but the gun, had no choice but to shoot two in the head! More began to arrive, and Michonne, not wanting them to leave the mall parking lot, headed back towards the mall, crouching in and out of brush!
"Goddamnit!" Shane swore, unable to believe she had done such a thing! He hurried to the car and opened the back door, pulling Judith out.
"Honey, you need to get this car back to town!" he said, handing her the keys and helping her in the driver's seat!
"But I'm too little!"
"Listen to me, you take the car out of this lot and the moment you get back to town, you step on that pedal, put the this gear into P and run like hell to get help! You can do this!" he said, grabbing her face with both hands! Judith nodded and he only had a brief moment to watch her put the car gear in D, turn around and take off! She could just barely see the road but she was doing a good job!
Shane then turned back to stab another walker in the head and search for Michonne.
Negan returned with Deke, convinced that taking the helicopter out to search for his brother and Maggie, would have been the smarter thing to do. It was like the two of them had vanished into thin air!
But people really couldn't do that. Not these days. Not with Mount Falls, Alexandria and the other sorry assed communities still in existence that Negan and the Saviors used to steal from. He had figured that they had headed to Alexandria, but he also knew they left by foot. That trek took days and no sign of them was found. They could be hiding but Negan could not shake the irritating feeling that Maggie Rhee had pulled a fast one on him again. And this time with the help of his own brother!
Negan suspected that Maggie and 'Father John', were still in Mount Falls. But he would confirm it when they got Yappy Pilot John to fly them over some central areas. Negan rubbed the back of his neck as he got out of the truck Deke has been driving, just as Eugene ran up to them looking someone had shot his mother or something. Negan eyed him.
"Yes?" he asked, not really expecting any kind of talk out of Eugene that he wanted to hear.
"Michonne's in trouble! Judith drove Sheriff Frank's car back to the down town area! She told us that some homeless people were at a mall in some bushes, and that were now walkers! She didn't make a lot of sense but I took her home. Some of the townspeople wanted to go down to the mall to see…"
"Wait! Hold up! We have a mall in this town? And homeless people? Homeless people that are walkers? What the fuck? Where is Judith?"
"At home. RJ is playing with a friend and Michonne and Sheriff Frank are trapped, or at least that's what Judith said." Eugene said, seeing that what he was saying, was now sinking in to Negan. Deke gave Eugene his usual look of disgust before looking at Negan.
"I'll find out what this is all about." he said and got back into the truck, driving towards the center of town. Negan ran towards his house and threw open the door! Judith came running to him and he held her tightly for a moment, before setting her away from him.
"Honey, what happened? Eugene said you drove Sheriff Frank's car? How?"
"He told me what to do! Momma and I were having lunch and he said he was going to a mall to see some homeless people! I don't know why they don't have homes?"
"Don't worry about that! What happened? Why did he take you with him?"
"Momma insisted! I think she thought we could find them houses to live in but they were really walkers! Momma ran and hid in some bushes and Sheriff Frank ran after her!" Judith nearly sobbed. "Momma is dead! She's dead!"
"No, she's not! Your Momma knows how to take care of herself better than either of us! I'm going to go get her and bring her home! Okay? Just look after RJ and I'll be back before you know it?"
Judith nodded and then told him one more thing.
"I don't think Sheriff Frank's name is really his own."
Negan, who had grabbed Michonne's Katana off of a wall, looked over at her.
"Why would you say that?"
"Because his name is the same as this guy called 'The Punisher'."
"Oh in the comics?" Negan asked. "Honey, I don't think that means anything. I think a lot of people have changed their names now. You can do that these days. Now look after your brother and stay inside, okay?"
Judith nodded again and watched Negan hurry out of the door. She knew he hadn't had time to take her seriously and decided to watch another Nancy Drew DVD. How would Nancy go about investigating Sheriff Frank?
Michonne crouched down in the high grass and managed to pull a knife out of a dead walker's head. Someone had had the sense, at one time, to fight one of these things off properly. Was it one of the homeless people? She also noticed that the walkers she had seen, looked freshly turned. And they were definitely people she had never seen before.
As she peered at the distance it was between the actual mall doors and her own location, Michonne began to wonder just WHO had told Sheriff Frank about the homeless people? She herself, had only seen walkers. That had to mean that whoever reported this, had to have seen the walkers as well. But they didn't say anything about that…
Suddenly, Shane fell in beside her, almost scaring her to death! He had seen a glimpse of her dreads through the grass.
"Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you!" he hissed in a whisper.
"What are you doing here? Where is Judith?" she asked in a similar sounding whisper.
"I had her take the car back to town, and before you give me that look, she was doing just fine as she got the hell out of here! She'll get help!"
"From who? Frank, these people are not equipped to face something like this! We need to find a way out of here ourselves!"
"Then they'll have to get 'equipped', otherwise those walkers will reach the populated town! Let's make a run for it towards those doors…" Shane began and then stopped and stared. Michonne looked over at what he was staring at. One of the doors had just swung open. It wasn't a main door, but a side one, like an entrance the employees would have used.
"Someone just opened that for us." Shane said, feeling uneasy.
"Yeah, I noticed. How did you find out that there were homeless people here?" Michonne asked.
"The former sheriff told me. The chatty helicopter pilot. I came in to the office and he said someone had left a note on the door about it. I told him I would take care of it." Shane said, eyeing her. "What?"
"It's just that the former Sheriff…John…he…well…he was part of a group. A group that conspired against Negan and I. Or at least I think he was with them. He acts friendly and talks your head off, but I don't completely trust him." Michonne confided.
Shane thought that over. He had never actually seen the note. He was just told there was one.
"Let's go inside. We can't stay out here. Maybe we'll get some answers from whoever opened that door for us." Shane said and together, they hurried out of their hiding spot and towards the entrance. Once inside, Shane slammed the door closed behind them. Right away it was apparent that this particular mall had been closed for a long while. Sunlight seeped in from the sun roof in certain parts of the enclosure, especially by the fountain, which had a healthy amount of algae in it.
It also had, in front of it, the dead body of Negan's brother, Father John! He had a knife sticking out of his forehead and Michonne ran to him, tears streaming down her face! What the hell? He had helped Maggie escape! That's why Negan wasn't here! He had helped Maggie escape…
Shane looked around and saw Maggie, who was coming out of a store that for whatever reason, still had clothing in it. She was wearing a light pink blazer with jeans on her body. Her facial expression was one of triumph as she looked from him, then to Michonne.
"Hello, Michonne. It's a shame what happened to him." she said in a voice that sounded as if she could give a damn. Michonne took a deep breath and slowly stood up.
"He never did anything to you." she said. Michonne also realized that Maggie, in all likelihood, had killed the homeless people that had been living here and set them loose. She knew Father John would have tried to stop her.
"He was Negan's twin. He tried to rape me in here. I think your townspeople will understand…"
"SHUT UP!" Michonne screamed. "I HAVE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH YOUR BLAMING ME FOR EVERYTHING! YOUR HUSBAND WAS A PSYCHOPATH! HE KILLED DARRYL…AND YOU DID TOO THE MOMENT YOU CHEATED ON DEXTER!"
Michonne pulled out her gun and pointed it at Maggie but she just smiled.
"You have worse problems than me, Michonne," Maggie said, now looking over at Shane. "So you came through the portal, right?"
Michonne slowly turned her gun from Maggie and on to 'Sheriff Frank'!
"What are you talking about?" Michonne asked, trying to keep her eyes off of Father John's body. It hurt that he looked so much like Negan and yet he had been very much a part of their family. Maggie was not getting out of this mall alive, she intended to see to that!
"Shane, why would you come into this world? To kill Rick?" Maggie asked casually, wiping imaginary dirty off of her pink jacket. Michonne's eyes widened!
"Shane?! Shane who's…"
"Yes, Judith's real father." Maggie said casually and then noted the look on Shane's face. It was clear that was a surprise to him!
"Judith is my little girl?" Shane asked, knowing now in his gut, that Maggie was telling the truth. Everything he had been thinking about that child now fit. Why she looked like his little sister…how natural it seemed talking to her…
"You came through the portal and then came here? To what?" Michonne asked, now fully focused on him.
"I didn't lie about where I had been." Shane told her. "I came through the portal, got with Alpha's group and then went to Alexandria."
"And then you found out I had Judith and came here to kidnap her?" Michonne asked. Maggie kept quiet because she honestly didn't think Shane knew until now, that Judith was his.
"No." Shane said, knowing somehow he had to salvage this. When Negan found out who he was, he'd be taking a dirt nap for sure. No one else but Rick Grimes, knew that he had been married to Michonne in the other universe.
So he lied.
"I was here for Maggie. We were married in the other universe before her sister killed her, so she could have Glenn." Shane said, which was partially true. Yeah, Beth had killed Maggie but he had had no part of that.
Maggie's eyes widened in surprise!
"The hell we were! I don't believe you!"
Michonne lowered her gun, not knowing what to think. Negan had wanted Maggie married off to someone, just to get her out of his hair. And if Shane, the same Shane who had caused all of that trouble between Rick and Lori, was actually married to Maggie in that other universe, well…maybe that would solve their problems. That and the horrified look on Maggie's face was priceless!
Noise, in the form of gunshots and a helicopter, distracted Michonne and she hurried to the mall door they had come in by, leaving Maggie and Shane alone.
"The hell I'm married to you! You were crazy here and I have no doubt you're crazier in that other universe!" Maggie snapped.
"No," Shane said casually, pulling out his gun and looking it over, "I'm married to Michonne. And she's who I want. Her and now Judith. I'm taking them back through the portal and you're helping me."
"How? By saying that we're married?"
"Negan doesn't give two fucks about his brother! He thought he was after Michonne and he'll be glad to see the last of him. And he wants you out of his hair. He'll want us both here so he can keep an eye on us. You're going to go along with whatever needs to be done, then you're going to help me get Michonne and Judith out of Mount Falls and back to my world."
Maggie seemed to consider this for a moment, before saying something else.
"Fine. But when the time comes, my son and I come with you. I want to see Glenn again."
"You play along, it can be done." Shane said, just as Negan, Deke, Michonne and some of the townspeople, burst into the mall, looking around! Negan walked over to his brother and shook his head. Michonne bent down and cradled Father John. Negan hid his annoyance at her gesture and mosied over to Shane and Maggie. He pointed Lucille at Shane.
"You're a deceitful fuck, aren't you?"
"I just wanted my wife back." Shane said, slipping an arm around Maggie's waist. She tried to resist his hold and that made Negan grin!
"Well, that's the only reason I'm letting you live, Sheriff. We're going to throw the two of you a wedding, just to make sure things are done proper." Negan said. Maggie wrenched herself away from Shane and walked off back towards the clothing store she had been in. Negan eyed her, before facing Shane.
"You can stay. You can even be our sheriff. But you stay the fuck away from Judith. And…I'm going to need some assurances that you're keeping your wife in line."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning I need to watch you fuck her. Like as soon as you get her home. I need to know that you're not fucking with me."
"You want to watch me fuck Maggie?"
"Well it shouldn't be a problem, should it? I'll be bringing popcorn and you make sure you get me a comfortable chair."
Shane just stared at Negan, now knowing why Rick hated this unbelievable bastard.
"And I suppose you'll want to bring Michonne along?"
Negan stopped grinning.
"See…that's why I want to watch. There's something about the way you practically risked your life for Chonnie, that unnerves me. Because I don't really know who was hooked up with who, in that universe you belong in. And if you get cute like that again, I'll bring Deke and Eugene along to watch. Poor Eugene is still upset about how you put it to Rosita. I expect to see that same kind of enthusiasm with your 'wife' Maggie. Are we clear?"
"Crystal." Shane said, biting back the urge to call Negan a 'motherfucker'. He watched Negan grin at him again and walk back towards Michonne. He saw her slowly pull her away from his dead, priest brother, then slip a firm arm around her waist as he walked her out of the mall. At one point Michonne looked over at him, her eyes staring at him in a way he could not quite read. Once they were gone, he turned to stare off in the direction Maggie had went off in. She would have to accept Negan's terms if she ever wanted to see Glenn again.