Rick pulls up to the barricade of the cul de sac; he could see that Tyreese and Abe were keeping watch for the day. He sticks his head out the driver side window and yells, "Me, Michonne and Daryl."
Tyreese and Abe look at one another knowing that Tero went Rick with the day before. Both men climbed down and opened the barricade so Rick could drive in.
Behind the barricade to the far right, Carl and Glenn are filling the cracks in the asphalt with sediment when they see Tyreese and Abe jump down from the 8' foot tall barricade. Carl looks at Glenn with excitement. Glenn smiles and grabs the bag out of his Carl's hand and says, "Let's take a break."
Carl turns around and sees Michonne in the passenger seat and starts to run over.
Once Rick drives in he sees Carl running and smiling in the rear view mirror. He parks, shuts the car off and gets out with a smile. But Instead of running to hug Rick, Carl runs to the passenger side and yells, "Michonne!"
Michonne sees Carl at her car window and smiles excitedly and says, "Carl!"
She gets out and Carl gives her a huge hug. While he buries his hed in to her stomach he asks, "Why did you leave like that?" She looks down at the top of his dark brown hair then she nudges him to look up at her.
Leaning down she says, "I won't ever do it again…" she looks over the at Rick who's watching the two of them embrace and winks at him while saying, "…I promise."
With a modest smile, Rick holds up two fingers and silently verbalizes, "That's twice." He smiles then turns to close the driver door.
Daryl gets out of the backseat and approaches Tyreese and Abe. He embraces Tyreese as soldiers do then he does the same with Abe.
Tyreese looks around and asks, "Where's Tero?"
Daryl looks down and tells them regrettably, "He didn't make it. We were fighting off a some walkers yesterday and he was alright but, afterwards he started coughing up blood…" Daryl shakes his head then in a low voice he says, "…he already knew what was coming for him when he left the block yesterday."
Tyreese and Abe look away in separate directions at the news. Tyreese turns back around as Rick approaches them, "We lost Jimmy yesterday."
Rick looks at Tyreese in shock, "What happened?"
Abe explains, "We went over to the hardware store to get some sediment for the cracks in the asphalt like T suggested. Jane decided to tag along because there was a drugstore across the street. She wanted to get some ointment for Judith so her and Jimmy went while we were in True Value.
"They went alone?" Rick asks.
"Yup, even James told the two to wait until we finished but, she said that she would be fine going over there with Jimmy. By the time she came back we were on the run from a herd inside the store. Jane's been hysterical since the incident she can't even hold it together long enough to tell anybody exactly what happened. James was sure he could handle it; he knew when to handle walkers and when to run. Maybe they just snuck up on him or something." Abe finishes.
Rick turns and walks away from the men in anger. He remembers again, that as much as he would like to have control over everyone he travelled with and their situation he really didn't know Abe that well. He trusted Tyreese to take care of the group, Rick wasn't really sure if that also included Abe, Rosita along with Jane and her brothers. For now, he would have to accept that Tyreese did what was asked of him keeping his kids and the prison group safe.
Glenn walks over and looking around the vehicle as he approaches Tyreese, Abe and Daryl, "Where's T?" In a mournful unison all three men bow their heads in silence. It only took one look for Glenn to understand that Tero was gone.
As Michonne and Carl start walking up the block Sasha walks down to welcome back Michonne, she walks up and embraces Michonne tightly and whispers in her ear, "I see you found your 'badass'."
Michonne leans back and looks at Sasha, "You knew that I would."
Sasha smiles at Michonne then smiles down at Carl. "Where's T", Sasha asks. The warm smile Michonne had on face only seconds before disappears as she tells Sasha, "He didn't make it."
Daryl sees Michonne, Carl and Sasha heading up the block and yells, "Michonne, hold up."
She walks back over to Daryl leaving Carl and Sasha, "What's up?" "Listen I know you need your space and all but, I was thinking that we could stay at Tero's house. I just need a place to rest my head when I come back from huntin' and you won't be by yourself all the time." He explains.
Michonne knew that Daryl didn't want any other incidences happening just because she's living by herself. And she really couldn't object to his reasoning. "Yea, that sounds like a plan." She smiles.
Rick starts heading up the block toward his house to deal with Jane when Daryl runs over and tells him, "Check it out, me and Michonne are gonna start staying at T's house. I'm only looking to lay my head somewhere when I get back from huntin' and she won't be alone all the time. Daryl pauses then says to Rick, "The two of us are loners anyway so one of us should at least know where the other is right?"
Rick's a bit hesitant at the idea of Daryl and Michonne staying together under the same roof alone. But he didn't have an argument against it. He also knew that he'd be dealing with Jane for a while due to the death of Jimmy. So he shook his head in agreement.
Daryl whistles to Michonne and says, "Chonne' come on we'll unload the car at T's place then Sasha can come by later to sort it out.
Rick reaches for the front door knob then pulls his arm back to watch as Michonne and Daryl ride up the street to T's house. He begins to feel guilty over the situation with Jane. He had feeling of guilt because Jimmy died while helping Jane get supplies for Judith.
Even still he really wanted her to move out so Michonne could move in. However, he just didn't have it in him to be so cruel to someone who lost their brother for the sake of his daughter.
When Rick walks in to the house he sees baby Judith on the living room floor playing with a couple of plastic blocks, "Hey you", he said in a relieved and joyful tone. Judith's face lights up as she sees her daddy entering the house. He waits as she crawls over to the couch to pull herself up.
He watches her in amazement as she stands up with the couch's assistance. She takes a step but continues to hold on to the couch looking up at her father for approval.
Rick kneels to her level and cheers her on, "Come on, come to Daddy that's right." Hearing the supportive tone in her father's voice, Judith let's go of the couch and takes another step. He's so elated that he wants to yell out but he holds it in as she starts walking to him.
Judith walks over to him and he scoops her up planting kisses all over her adorable grin. "Look at Daddy's little girl walking all by yourself", he cuddles her closely and whispers in her ear, "Hopefully by this time next year Chonne will be teaching you how to fence." He pulls away from her ear and looks at her cute little face when she says, "I tat, Chonne. Chonne, Chonne".
Rick looks at Judith strangely, "How did you learn that?" he asks rhetorically. He passes over the thought thinking that Carl must have taught her how to say Michonne's nickname.
He walks in to the kitchen with Judith in his arms, he sees Jane sitting in the kitchen chair with her head lying down on the kitchen table and Maggie sitting next to her rubbing her back trying to console her. Maggie looks up at Rick with a large smile walks over to him and gives him a hug then she grabs Judith out of his hands so he can talk with Jane.
Rick sits down next to Jane and says, "Hey Jane, I heard what happened to Jimmy yesterday I'm really sorry. What happened out there?"
Jane lifts her head up to look at Rick then she explodes in to more tears and wraps her arms around his neck. Rick felt awkward hugging her even in her time of misfortune. He felt as though her other brother James would be better suited to comfort her about the loss of their brother.
He gave her an ambivalent hug back then he says, "Maybe I should go and get James to stay with you for a while, its times like this that you should be around your family."
Jane stops sobbing momentarily and looks at Rick, "But you are my family, the four of us. You, me, Judith and Carl we are family we should be there for each other." She goes back to crying on his shoulder. Rick's unsure of how or if he should tell her about moving out instead he decides to wait until she is in a calmer state.
Rick finally convinces Jane to lay down upstairs in order to get some rest. When he comes downstairs he sees Maggie holding Judith's hand helping her walk around outside.
He walks over to her, "Maggie can you hold on to Judith and Carl for another day or two while Jane gets herself together? I know that you and Glenn…"
Maggie interrupts with, "Rick, its fine, really. Being around a happy baby these days is a pleasure."
Rick smiles at Maggie knowing how proud Hershel would be of his little girl, "Thanks Maggie. Are you going to stick around a while? I wanna go talk to James to see if Jane may have said anything to him about yesterday."
"Sure, we can hang out here for a while" she says all the while making silly faces at Judith.
Meanwhile, Michonne and Daryl get out of the car in Tero's driveway; she looks over at Daryl, "Hey, maybe we should check it out first." Daryl agrees and grabs his crossbow out of the back seat.
As the two walk across the front lawn, Tero's neighbor "Ed" walks out of his front door toward the end of his lawn and asks, "Hey, where's T?"
Daryl looks over at Michonne and she shrugs her shoulders not knowing what he should say.
He walks over to edge of the driveway and says in a low voice, "Ah…Tero didn't make it back from the run. I'm sorry."
Ed pokes his lips out to one side and shakes his head refusing to believe that Daryl and his people didn't somehow have a hand in Tero's death, "Tero always came back from a run. If he didn't make it back it had something to do with you and your people."
Daryl looks at Ed with an angered skepticism, "Excuse me?"
"You heard me", Ed says.
Daryl quickly starts to walk closer to Tero's neighbor.
Michonne observes the body language between the two men and runs over to stop Daryl.
"Daryl! Hold up!" She yells; gets in between them just before Daryl enters Ed's personal space, "Wait, look we all liked Tero and we're all going to miss him but the two of you both know what the real threat is out there. So let's just go our separate ways and mourn the death of good man."
Ed looks Michonne up and down admiring her snug fitting vest and her shapely legs. With the look of a perverted old man he says, "$1200.00"
Michonne and Daryl look at him strangely. Ed says again, "$1200.00, that's what I would've whored you out for 30 years ago sweetheart."
Michonne furrows eye brows and clinches her jaw in anger and reaches back for her katana.
Daryl stops her arm from unsheathing her sword; grabs her around her waist and begins to aggressively pull her back.
Daryl was planning on giving Ed a beat down; Michonne was going to kill him.
"Get fuck out of here old man before I let her go", Daryl yells while pulling Michonne back to Tero's lawn.
Ed yells back, "Puttana maledetta!" spits on the ground and walks back into his house.
Michonne starts to break free from Daryl's grip, "Get off of me!"
Daryl releases her and they stand on the lawn for a few seconds in silence. She releases her hand from her sword and takes a couple of deeps breaths. Then she turns around and with anger still written all over her face she says, "Come on lets clear this fucking house."
As they approach the front steps the porch light comes on but it's very dim. Daryl and Michonne look at one another believing that someone was in the house. The first thing that came to mind for Daryl was Ed and if he had someone planted in Tero's house. So he motions to her to back him up, that way whoever is in there sees him first.
He tries the door to see if it's unlocked then he pulls Tero's house keys from his pocket. He unlocks the door and they enter.
Just as he steps inside very dim lights come on illuminating the foyer and the room beyond; Michonne shuts the front door.
They stand in the foyer in amazement as they quickly scan over the living room.
The living room was in pristine condition. Michonne walks past Daryl and gazes at the elegance of the room. It was as though she was thrown back in time when the world was normal. There are expensive pieces of art work lined across the walls like the art exhibits she used to attend with Mike. The furniture in the room looks as though it had just been delivered the day before.
Daryl views the room with some distaste but, deep down he has always wanted to live some place with nice things. When he was kid everything in his house was from church donations, the Salvation Army, Goodwill or a junk yard.
The two walk further in to the living room and they see a fire place with slightly lit kindles if wood. On top of the mantle were pictures of Tero and his wife Sheila on their wedding day and pictures of their children and grandchildren. Over top of the fireplace what a mounted 46" flat panel TV. On either side of the fireplace were bookshelves full of books, DVD's and CD's.
Michonne slowly walks around the room with intense fascination then, she abruptly stopped in front of a very much out of place beat up barker lounger in the middle of the room facing the T.V.
"What would possess someone to put a hideous recliner in the middle of this gorgeous room?" She pauses to smell the room, "And what is that sme…", she turns around to look at Daryl.
He has a large smile on his face and starts shaking his head yes. She looks at him and starts grinning and shaking her head in slight disbelief.
"Hell yea, Come on help me find it." He tells her.
When they walk through the kitchen more dim lights automatically come on, the lights in the kitchen are hardly visible with the daylight beaming through the kitchen windows.
They walk through the immaculate kitchen toward the basement door; Michonne hands Daryl the flashlight then he stomps his foot on the basement steps to see if any noise comes about.
As they walk down the basement stairs the smell intensifies; once they reach the bottom of the steps more bright fluorescent bulbs automatically come on lighting up the entire basement.
Daryl quickly ready's his cross bow while Michonne immediately unsheathes her sword. He starts to venture further in to the basement while Michonne walks over to a door directly across from the stairs.
She knocks on the door first; when she doesn't hear anything moving she opens it up she sees four high powered solar power battery units. She kneels down and reads how much power each battery has.
Under her breath she says, "I should've gone to school for engineering."
"Oh shit…" Daryl yells, "…no wonder T kept trying to get me to stop by his house. Damn, if Merle was here he would've be in heaven." He laughs.
Michonne walks over to where he's standing and sees 15 marijuana plants in a grow room. She shakes her head again and repeats in a low voice of what she said moments earlier, "Damn, I should've been a God damn engineer."
"Yo, we're gonna git soo nice tonight, right! Daryl grins at her and tries to reason with her by stating, "We need honor Tero for giving me the keys to his house last night."
"I don't know about that…" Michonne turns and walks away while saying, "… it makes me too paranoid, besides we maybe on watch tonight."
Daryl looks over at the plants then looks at her and says in agreement, "True. But if we aren't you gonna smoke some right?"
Michonne looks back at him and rolls her eyes in the back of her head and says with a reluctant smile, "Maybe. Come on Cheech; let's check out the rest of the basement."
They wonder over to the laundry room that's right next to the grow room; they see that all the shelves along the laundry room wall are full of various canned meats and vegetables. On the floor beneath each set of shelving are 20 pound bags of rice.
"I always wondered why he never took anything we brought back from our runs…this is why." Daryl says.
Michonne nudges his shoulder, "Come on let's check out the rest of the basement."
As they walk beneath the basement stairs they see that the rest of the basement set up like a workshop. There's plenty of tools, raw materials, different types of carpentry machinery, semi-automatic weapons, pistols, a couple of rifles and shotguns, knives, hatchets, axes, bags of gunpowder and bags of potassium nitrate.
Daryl walks over to the bookshelf against one of the walls and pulls one out a book on ancient weaponry. "Man, Tero was keeping his self-busy. He even has books about making solar panels how to use solar power." He says to Michonne across the room.
She walks over to the book shelf and reaches for one of the books titled, 'Plagues of the ancient and modern world' "The minute they showed the outbreak on the news he must have started stocking up on any and every book about survival he could get his hands on." She replies.
Michonne put the book back so she can investigate Tero's workbench; she looks over the different tools when she sees a employee badge with a picture of Tero's wife. Next her picture on the badge is a Federal seal with Department of Health and Human Services wrapped around it. Beneath the picture it has Sheila's name and under her name is her employee ID# and the division she worked for, "Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion".
She puts the badge down slowly while considering the fact they Tero and his wife may have known about the outbreak before public did.
Daryl puts the book back on the shelf and walks over to the wall covered in tools; he gets a little closer and sees one of two homemade .45 caliber hand guns. The handle and the base were carved out of wood and lacquered. The handle had two small compartments on each side with one bullet, the barrel and trigger made out of scrap metal and a tiny stainless steel pipe. All held together by a hose clamp.
Michonne walks over to Daryl and picks up the other .45 and says, "Wow, this is beautiful and deadly." She places it back on the wall and says, "Let's check out the upstairs."
Going upstairs to the third floor, Daryl notices the framed photos lined along the stairway walls and pauses to look at one of the photos of Tero and Shelia in army fatigues. The background looks as though it was taken during the Vietnam War. In the picture Tero is hugging and kissing her on the cheek.
Daryl looks at how happy they are in the picture and began to wonder if he could or would he ever find that type of joy for himself.
Once Michonne reaches the top floor she looks around and sees four closed doors; she knocks on the first door to see if there's any movement then she slowly opens it up. It's the master bedroom and it was full light from the three large windows, the bed was neatly made up. On either side of the bed were matching mahogany dressers. On the opposite wall from the bed was a closet with sliding mirror doors and next to the closet is another book case and overtop of that was another mounted flat screen TV. She walks towards an open door to the far left of the closet and bookcase and peeks in to find a spotless master bathroom with over-sized bath tub.
Daryl walks over to the other room next to the master bedroom and knocks on the door. Hearing nothing he opens it and sees it just a full size bathroom; he looks around the bathroom; glances inside the cabinets under the sink and a linen closet.
Then he walks back out in to the hall and quietly shuts the bathroom door. He starts to reach for the door knob on the room next to the bathroom when he sees a sign on the door farthest away from the master bedroom that reads, "DO NOT ENTER". Daryl exhales grimly then slowly approaches the door and gives it two light knocks.
He places his ear to the door for a few seconds; suddenly he hears the sound of a small walker moaning and clawing from inside the room.
Daryl immediately steps back knowing what was on the other side of the door.
Michonne comes out of the master bedroom and sees Daryl siting on the floor, leaning against the bathroom door. She watches him staring at the door at the end of the hall.
Next, she hears the small walker sounds coming from the room.
Daryl pulled his knees up to his chest and leaned his head against the door.
Michonne walks over and sits down next to him listening to the hungry little walker scratching at the door.
She says woefully, "I bet it's one of their grandkids in the picture down stairs on the mantle."
The two sit in silence for a while then Michonne takes a sniffle to stop her nose from running then looks at Daryl, "He just couldn't bring himself to do it. That doesn't make him anything less than what you knew him to be…a decent man and a friend."
Daryl lifts his head off the door and looks at her with watery eyes and says softly, "Every time I feel like we're getting a head, there's always something lurking…like the bad times are always waiting around to destroy any good times."
Michonne gets up and says, "The only reason that makes sense to me is balance; if it's good all the time without nothing bad happening we'll stop appreciate the good times; although I must admit, so far the bad times seem to come around more frequent then the good ones."
She looks over at the door drops her head a little, "Hope seems to always come with huge price these days."
Extending her hand to help Daryl up; he grabs her hand and pulls himself up, "So what do we do now," he asks.
Michonne lets out heavy sigh while looking over at the door then shrugs her shoulders and says, "We do what Tero couldn't do."