New Companions

Carol was relieved that she hadn't gotten any complaints about bringing four more people into their fold. She thought Rick would protest that the new additions posed a threat to his children or at least that he would trot out his list of questions. Carol had never understood why he did that; evil people would just lie and even good people had by now done monstrous things to survive. Rick had surprised her by being almost welcoming. Then again, she had overlooked that lonely men would be more receptive to attractive women.

Sarah was tall, blond, and beautiful enough to turn heads even in her late thirties. Carol wasn't surprised to find out that she and her husband had owned a construction business. Sarah had an air of competence about her and could probably run all the heavy equipment in their company. She had managed somehow to keep her son alive in this world through a combination of intelligence and strength.

Rachel hardly spoke. She had eaten dinner and then went upstairs to bed. She was probably around thirty or a little more with light brown hair and blue eyes. She seemed less confident than Sarah but maybe that was because she was exhausted to the point of collapse.

Sarah had taken Michael and Alia upstairs to sleep, but came back downstairs to talk. Carol noticed that Rick seemed to be fascinated with her and she thought that it was time for Rick to move on from Lori. Rick and Michonne had had a mild flirtation going but that ship had sailed. Michonne was more than mildly flirting with Morgan. Carol hoped that they got together. Michonne deserved someone as wonderful as Morgan and he deserved someone as wonderful as Michonne.

Sarah's husband had gone to their job site to get some tools that they were going to take with them as they fled the Savannah area. He never came back and Sarah had joined a group that had gradually dwindled as they drifted from coastal Georgia to hilly North Carolina. Finally, they had settled down here at the beginning of last summer. They had found enough supplies to make it through the summer but the men had gone on a scavenging run and never come back.

Sarah and Rachel had survived by taking short runs for food until the vehicle broke down. They decided to try to stay closer to the food sources but the constant danger from walkers and other people had kept them from going on many runs.

Rachel had been an electrical engineer. She had been with the group from the beginning. Her husband had been bitten while on a run a year ago. She didn't have any children, but helped with Michael and Alia.

The little girl's parents had been killed about six months ago. Alia could talk but she probably wouldn't until she got more comfortable in her surroundings. Her parents had been teachers in a college in South Carolina and Alia was their only child.

Sarah excused herself and went upstairs after telling her story. She trusted this group enough to go to let herself sleep soundly. They were tough enough to survive but there was still a humanity about them. Her group had started out that way but in the last year things began changing. Two new men had joined their group and they had demanded that Sarah and Rachel become their "wives". They either submitted or they would be pushed out. There wasn't another option and so they traded sex for survival. Ironically, the men had been killed and she and Rachel had to survive without the protection of the group anyway.

TWDTWDTWD

Michonne and Morgan had taken first watch and they discussed the newcomers while they were on watch. It was a cold moonlit night and they walked around the yard to keep warm. The house behind them was dark. The generator was always turned off by evening. They had fashioned black out shades for night so that the little light given by candles and lamps didn't seep out and attract walkers.

"So what do your think of our newcomers?" Michonne was genuinely curious to get Morgan's reaction.

"I think they are good women and they make our group stronger." Morgan had liked the both of them. "Rick seemed taken with Sarah". Morgan had noticed that Rick had watched the blond woman all evening. Morgan wanted to know how Michonne felt about that. His first impression had been that Michonne and Rick were together and now they didn't seem to be. He wanted Michonne for himself but he wasn't going to go after her if she was still carrying a torch for Rick.

Michonne smiled at Morgan's offhand statement about Rick. He was trying to find out if she was pissed that Rick was looking at another woman. She could play this two ways, one she be so neutral in her answer that Morgan wouldn't be sure how she felt. The second option was to be open and honest in her reply. She went with honest, "I think Rick is very taken with our Sarah and I hope that she likes him too. It's a damn cold and lonely world out there."

Morgan smiled at her answer. She didn't seem to be pining away for Rick. "It's a damn cold and lonely night and I am glad that you are with me. Are you warm enough?"

Michonne was always cold. She was used to Georgia's milder winters and it was colder here. "I am cold enough to freeze if I stop so I never stop."

Morgan laughed, "Come over here and I'll warm you up." He was wearing a heavy coat and wasn't cold at all.

Michonne considered the offer and the cold lonely world. She moved closer to him and he unzipped his coat and she backed in and he enclosed the coat around both of them. He was so warm that she moved closer. He didn't say anything but he rested his head on hers and for a while they stood and listened for sounds that they didn't want to hear.

Finally, Michonne gave her low lazy laugh, "Is that a pistol in your pocket or are you glad to see me?"

Morgan muttered in her ear, "It maybe the pistol or the knife that I always wear, but then again I am awfully glad to see you too." He had an erection and she wasn't making it any easier to hide by being so close. Morgan decided that if you were in for the penny then you were in for the pound. He took his left arm out of the coat and put it around Michonne. He heard her quick intake of breath and thought about the damage she could do to him with that sword but kissed her ear anyway. Having survived that he kissed her neck. His left hand went underneath her coat and sweater to caress her bare silky skin. She turned toward him and he kissed her on the lips and his hand moved toward her breasts.

Michonne knew that she had to stop this now but she let continue. His fingers began to rub her nipple and the kiss deepened. Morgan's tongue explored her mouth and she strained toward him. Suddenly, they both heard something out there and they sprang apart to gather their wits and their weapons to meet whatever was coming their way. Their monsters turned into a herd of deer who were eating the grass in the pasture nearby.

Michonne gave a relieved laugh, "Okay, no more fun and games. We are on watch and we need to keep our mind on our job." She moved further away from him.

Morgan agreed, "I will keep my distance when we are on watch, but I make no promises about after that."

The rest of the night was uneventful. Carol and Daryl had the second watch and they showed up on time. Morgan told the story about being spooked by deer but he left out the part about what they had been doing prior to the event.

Daryl snorted as they left, "What do you think they were doing to not notice a herd of deer?"

"I know what I hope they were doing." Carol looked out at the frostbitten pasture to see if the deer were still there.

Daryl said, "Go inside. I can do this by myself." He wanted her in their bed warm and cozy. He would spend his time on watch thinking that it was necessary to keep Carol and the others safe.

"Let's walk around a bit and we can name constellations". Daryl could name a good many constellations and she knew some that he didn't know. Daryl took her gloved hand and they walked through the moonlight together.

Morgan and Michonne went back to the house. It was warm inside and Michonne laughed that her feet were numb. Morgan kissed her and said, "I have very warm feet; and I won't whine if you put your cold feet on mine."

Michonne laughed and kissed him back. "You say that now, but you'll change your tune when you feel my feet." She looked at him in the dim light cast by the solar night light. She had not been with anyone since Mike and that was years ago.

Morgan kissed her cold hands, "What sort of man would be put off by cold feet and hands? Cold hands, warm heart. I'll just go down to my cold bed and think sweet thoughts." He recited a poem of Anne Spencer.

Ah, how poets sing and die!

Make one song and Heaven takes it;

Have one heart and Beauty breaks it;

Chatterton, Shelley, Keats and I-

Ah, how poets sing and die!

Michonne thought of her cold bed and her cold feet. Two could play at this poetry game. She held out her hand and recited the last stanza of her favorite Spencer poem.

Black man o' mine,

As I hush and caress you, close to my heart,

All your loving is just your needing what is true;

Then with your passing dark comes my darkest part,

For living without your love is only rue.

Black man o' mine, if the world were your lover

It could not give what I give to you.

Morgan took her offered hand and they went upstairs to her room. Michonne whispered, "I don't have anything".

Morgan said, "I don't either. Tomorrow I can go on a run."

Michonne said, "What the hell. I just finished. I think I am safe."

Morgan said, "I would never describe you as safe." He kissed her and said, "Say that poem again." Michonne recited it again as he undressed her and himself. They slid into her bed and Michonne was surprised at how frightened she was. Not of Morgan but of this sudden feeling of vulnerability. Loving anyone in this world was putting your heart on a target. Like the line in the poem "Have one heart and Beauty breaks it". She had survived losing Anthony by letting her hatred of Mike and Terry dominate her emotions. She had stayed alive but she had become something different. Tougher and stronger but she was afraid of being vulnerable and Morgan made her feel vulnerable.

Michonne remembered being back on the road when they had almost driven onto a walker herd. Morgan had kept his head and got turned around and then he waited to make sure the others were turned around so that vehicles didn't get tangled up. She had been driving another car and she had almost pushed the accelerator down to save herself. She had looked at Morgan and he had met her eyes and they had both waited until the others cleared their path. It had been close but no one was hurt. Morgan was a man who made sure that no one got hurt. She had nothing to fear from this good man.

Michonne kissed Morgan and drew him closer to her. He was her good man.

AN

Anne Spencer was a Black poet who lived in Virginia and isn't terribly well known. She was part of the Harlem Renaissance. Interesting woman. I have decided to make a pilgrimage to her home in Virginia to see her restored garden.

I love Morgan and Michonne and have regretted that I didn't put them together in another fic I wrote.