In Another Lifetime (Chapter 4)
A/N: Thank you for all the wonderful support. I appreciate each and every one of you.
Michonne felt lighter for having talked to Rick about Mike and she was so glad he opened up about Lori. She wants to believe their talk helped him as well. It was good knowing that he trusted her with something so close to him. The way things were looking it was her, him, and their boys against those things….the walkers.
She's not sure of the why she ended up with this man….someone she had to vehemently fight an attraction to, someone who made her rethink her marriage vows….She sighs heavily as those feelings seem to come to life, stirring up a fluttery feeling in her stomach as she looks over at a sleeping Rick. She smiles as he is normally the one to stay up and allow her to sleep, but after their talk tonight, he seemed to deflate right before her, truly relaxing for the first time since they've been together. It wasn't long before his eyes started to close and he was sleeping a bit soundly. She found his soft snore endearing and just as quickly as that feeling came, it evaporated as she remembers how loud Mike could get some nights.
Mike….I'm….sorry. How is it that you aren't here with me….with us? I never imagined a life without you. What am I supposed to do? She rubs her forehead anxiously, wanting but not wanting the memories. She stands and moves down the hallway to check on the boys, anything to distract herself.
A couple of days pass before they are ready to go on a run for more supplies. The small family piles into the car, the boys with their bats, Rick with his python, and Michonne with her katana. They packed their trusty shovels in the trunk.
As Rick puts the car in reverse, Michonne can't help looking longingly at the house they've made into a home. She wishes they could stay sequestered indefinitely as it gave her a sense of security….not only for herself, but for the boys and Rick too. She just wanted them…she needed them to be ok. She smiles as Andre starts to sing one of his favorite Kidz Bop songs. It reminds her of how things used to be….it almost feels…..normal.
"Shhh….what's that noise?" Carl asks.
Andre stops singing and looks to Carl. "What noise?"
"Just listen. Dad, do you hear that?"
Rick rolls his window down and there is some sort of whirring noise in the distance. He's not sure what direction it's coming from but he can definitely hear it. He is so distracted that he starts to slow the car in an effort to listen.
"Could that be a helicopter?" Michonne asks.
Rick brings the car to a complete stop in the middle of the round as the four of them look anxiously towards the sky, the noise seeming louder.
"Mommy! Lookit!" Andre shouts as he points upward.
Michonne looks to her right, not believing what she is seeing.
From a distance, a helicopter appears to be flying straight towards them. The four of them are frozen in the moment as they watch it get closer and closer and finally fly right over them. They turn their bodies around just to ensure that they are seeing what they are seeing.
"We should try to follow it," Rick exclaims as he maneuvers the car in the opposite direction.
"I see smoke. Do you think they're in trouble?" Carl asks.
Rick knows it's not the best idea but the pull of finding other people is too strong. They leave the car and travel on foot, watching the billowing clouds of smoke rising from a distance. They lost sight of the aircraft and can only assume that it must have gone down. He is hoping the passengers survived and maybe they even have a safe place somewhere.
"I couldn't see it very well, but I think it was one of those military helicopters," Carl tells his dad as they walk alongside each other.
Rick nods. "Maybe so, son. I just hope we find some survivors."
Michonne decides not to voice her opinion. She just holds tightly to Andre's hand and constantly watches their surroundings.
It seems like they have been walking forever when they finally come upon the wrecked helicopter. Rick looks behind him, catching Michonne's eyes as they both realize that no one could have possibly survived that crash. He sighs heavily and takes a step toward the wreckage.
Michonne grabs his arm. "What are you doing?"
"We should at least check it out. Maybe they had some supplies or weapons," he answers.
"Whatever they had probably isn't salvageable now. Don't risk it," she tells him.
"She sounds pretty smart. I'd listen to her," a male voice booms. A tall dark haired man dressed all in black steps into view, along with four other men, all of them armed and pointing their guns at Michonne, Rick and the kids.
Rick and Michonne are startled as they grab their boys, not sure how to react to seeing actual people again. Not sure why they've got guns pointed at them either.
"Put your hands up. We've gotta check you for weapons and such," the man in black tells them.
"We don't want any trouble. We saw the helicopter and came to investigate. That's all," Rick explains.
"Well, I just can't trust any and everybody I run across. Not right off anyway." He gives a shake of his head and watches as two of his men march over to the man and woman and relieve them of their weapons.
"Now, I don't feel so threatened." He gives them an insincere smile. "So, how about we learn a little about each other? I'm Phillip and you are…..?" He looks directly at Michonne.
"I'm Michonne. This is Rick, Carl, and Andre," she answers quietly, thankful that the boys are picking up on the non-verbal hint to remain silent. Unbeknownst to her, Carl looked over to Andre and mouthed "stranger danger".
"Nice to meet you. I take it you folks have a camp or something around here. Are there more of you?" Phillips asks, looking to Rick.
"No, it's just us. We haven't seen anyone else for weeks. We were starting to think there wasn't anyone else," Rick says.
The group of men laugh as Phillip nods and says, "Well, this is your lucky day. We have a community and it just so happens that we're taking people in. Now, before I….." He is interrupted as the telltale noise of walkers drifts to them.
They turn in the direction the noise generated, the two men stepping in front of Rick, Michonne, and the boys. The other three spring into action as five walkers move slowly toward them. They take down the threat using knives and tell the others to fall out quickly.
Michonne shares a look with Rick as they grab the boys' hands and follow the three ahead of them. The other two falling in step behind them.
Rick just happens to glance back and frowns as one of the guys' eyes are clearly lowered and looking at Michonne's ass. He continues to watch until the guy lifts his eyes and gives him a sheepish grin. His frown grows deeper as he looks at her, taking in the simple jeans and sleeveless tank top, then directs his gaze straight ahead.
Michonne can't help feeling a bit apprehensive and excited at the same time. This could be someplace safe, maybe even someplace they could live especially with other survivors. This could be the answer Rick was looking for.
They are led to two vehicles where the family is asked to sit in back while Phillip and another man occupy the front. The remaining members of the group load into the second vehicle and they move out of the woods and onto the road.
Phillip's eyes flip to the rearview mirror over and over again as he watches an oblivious Michonne. She is engaged with the boys, making sure they're ok and not afraid.
Rick is watching the passing scenery, memorizing details, and timing their ride but he can't help noticing Phillip constantly looking at Michonne in the mirror. He also hopes it wasn't a mistake to follow these people.
A little over 20 minutes later, they pull up to a barricaded gate where Phillip slams on the horn twice which prompts the gate to be opened for entry. The two vehicles move inside quickly and soon all occupants are filing out.
Phillip calls them over to the side and explains that he'd like them to be seen by their local physician but they can take care of that on tomorrow. He would also like to interview them further but that would be handled tomorrow as well. He beckons for a lady named Rita to join them and asks her to set them up with housing.
"Will that be one apartment or two? I see both of you are wearing rings but I don't want to assume, so…." Phillip trails off as Rick answers hurriedly.
"One….apartment." He can feel Michonne's eyes on him but she remains quiet….thankfully.
Phillip looks at them both thoughtfully before he utters, "I see." He nods. "Well, get a good night's rest. I'll have someone to show you around tomorrow after we get all of the preliminaries squared away. Welcome to Woodbury."
Rita appears nice and bubbly and extremely friendly. She shows them to a two bedroom apartment and explains that they are welcome to walk around but there is a curfew and she advises them to just lay low until they have their physicals and interviews on tomorrow. She gives them two bags, one loaded with canned goods and the other with toiletries. She bid them a good night after informing them that they'd be able to have more decent meals when they're more settled.
Rick closes and locks the door and sighs with relief. He drops his head, not really wanting to face Michonne but finally turns and meets her gaze. "Well, what do you think?"
"I don't know. I'll make up my mind tomorrow. What about you? What do you think…and why would you let him assume that we're married?" She asks.
"Is that what he meant by assume and the rings?" Carl asks with a light laugh.
"Carl….." Rick warns softly. He gives his attention back to Michonne. "I just think we need to be careful. He was asking for a reason. He'll think you're vulnerable if he knows you're single."
Michonne sighs, wanting to retort that she can take care of herself. She's not even sure where the slight irritation came from. Was it the fact that she will be labeled as a single parent from now on? Was it that she was agreeing to pretend to be someone's wife? Someone she didn't want to pretend with? She grabs the bag of toiletries and utters, "Whatever you think is best" before moving to the bathroom and closing the door soundly.
Rick stares after her, wondering if he made the right decision.
"Rick, I'm hungry," Andre states.
That snaps him out of his reverie as he grabs the bag of canned goods and pieces together a meal for them.
Later that night, the boys are preparing for bed as their parents look on. The apartment was fully furnished and decorated with colorful wall art, vases, and wood carvings.
"Andre, don't you want to sleep with Mommy tonight?" Michonne asks, hopeful.
"No, Mommy. I'm sleeping with Carl. You know that," Andre answers.
She gives a slight smile. "Right."
They tuck the boys in and move off down the hallway, stopping at the next bedroom, the queen size bed appearing to take up all the space in the room.
They start talking at the same time and stop abruptly with a laugh.
"I was just gonna say that I'll take the couch," Rick offers.
"Or I could. It's really no big deal. I probably won't be able to sleep anyway," she explains.
"This is the first time we both can get some genuine sleep. Someone else is on watch for a change," Rick says.
She smiles. "Yeah, but right now….we don't know if we can trust that someone else."
He smiles with her, realizing the truth of her words. "We'll find out more about this place tomorrow. If we don't like it, we'll leave. We'll go back to the house and start again."
"Really? You'd leave this behind after finally finding others?"
"If it means keeping my fam….my son safe….and you and Andre," Rick explains slowly, wondering about the word he almost used to describe them.
Her heartbeat quickens even more as she couldn't help but catch the fact that he was about to call them his family. Is that how he saw them now? She looks up at him. "So don't you think we should have a plan B just in case this doesn't work out for us?"
"Yeah…..yeah we should."
They move off to the living room just like they did at the house and spend the remainder of the night talking and making plans.
The next morning, Michonne prepares breakfast and not long after they are done, there is a knock at the door. Rick opens it and is greeted by a young lady who introduces herself as Dr. Denise Cloyd. She informs them that the Governor sent her over to retrieve them for their physicals.
"The Governor? Who's the governor?" Michonne asks.
Dr. Cloyd laughs a bit. "Oh, that's Phillip. That's what we call him around here now."
"Really? Was he a politician or something before?" Michonne inquires.
"Not that I know of. I think he was a car salesman," Dr. Cloyd answers.
"Then why call him the Governor?" Carl wants to know.
Rick rubs the back of his neck as he can see Dr. Cloyd is growing a bit uncomfortable with the questions. "Well, if you'll just lead the way…"
Dr. Cloyd nods as she turns to leave.
Michonne and Carl share a look and mouth "The Governor?" before falling in behind Rick and Andre, following Dr. Cloyd.
After receiving good reports from their exams, they are approached by a guy named Tyreese who leads them to the Governor's office. Rick recognizes him as one of the guys who was part of the Governor's team from yesterday. He scoffs silently. The Governor? Is this guy on an ego trip or what?
Their interview with Phillip or rather the Governor went smoothly. He asked them questions about what they did before professionally, if they had killed the undead before, supply runs, etc. He also gave them the story of how Woodbury was formed, the rules and regulations and what he expected from them as citizens. He allowed them one week to get acclimated to the place before they were expected to start working and earn their keep.
Rick was placed on guard duty which Michonne wanted as well but the Governor assigned her to the supply store. The boys would attend school for a few hours each day. Mrs. Carson was a school teacher before the change and has taken it upon herself to educate the children.
Their work assignments start their second week there. Michonne and the boys are away during the day while Rick is at home, they have dinner together and then Rick is off to handle guard duty on a night shift. That was their routine for two weeks and then Rick was given a day shift. The Governor informed him that he would alternate from week to week.
Michonne is counting canned goods when the Governor approaches her in a back room of the supply store.
"So how are you coming along? Are you liking the place so far?" He asks.
"We're fine. Although I did hear about the cluster of walkers that had to be taken out the other day. Does that happen often?"
"That's something you should let your husband worry about. He was integral in taking those walkers down, so I'd say he knows how to handle himself," the Governor states. "That makes you feel safe, doesn't it?"
Michonne eyes him, wondering about his play on words. "My….husband and I both know how to handle ourselves so yes…..I feel fine."
"Well, good….good. By the way, I'm putting together a team for a supply run. Do you think you could handle yourself out there? I uh….I usually don't allow women on these types of assignments but I think you'd surprise me. I'm intrigued to find out so what do you say?"
"Count me in," she tells him.
The Governor smiles. "I'll be in touch with the details later. Thanks for doing this. I'll see you around."
Michonne watches him walk away, unsure about the man's motives.
She relays the conversation to Rick later that night after dinner and he is not happy.
"So he only asked you? He didn't say anything about me going as well?"
"Both of us shouldn't go. One of us should be here with the boys," she returns.
"I'll just go in your place then. You shouldn't be out there alone with them. We don't know everything about them just yet," Rick explains.
"Rick, I can handle myself. I'll be fine," she tells him.
He looks into her eyes as he releases a deep sigh. "You're determined to do this?"
"I am. He asked me for a reason so I'm going to show him how capable I can be," Michonne states.
"This isn't some sort of contest and you don't have to prove anything to him."
"I know."
He works his jaw as there is so much more he wants to say, but he relents. "Just be careful out there, ok?"
"I will."
Meanwhile, the Governor is in bed with a blue eyed brunette named Dawn. He removes himself from her body and turns onto his back, looking up at the ceiling, his breathing harsh and labored.
"That was awesome as always, Phillip. You just keep getting better and better." She smiles knowingly as she turns onto her stomach and starts caressing his chest.
"Well, I sure do aim to please, darling." He turns his head to look at her, the moon's glow illuminating her face. "I need another favor."
Dawn sighs. "What is it this time? I'm not fucking any of your men again. You told me I was done with that."
"And you are. This is someone new. What do you think about Rick Grimes?"