Chapter 6
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"Denise, can you handle this by yourself?" Heath walked up to the table where Scott was lying, "I can help." Michonne didn't wait for Denise to respond before she ran out the door. She didn't know how long Rick had been gone but she knew where he was going. As she ran up to the house she saw a body lying in the grass across the street. She ran down the sidewalk, up the steps, and through the open door, "RICK…RICK!" There was no one downstairs. She made her way up the stairs and into Carl's room where Rick was sitting at the foot of the bed.
"They aren't here," Rick said in a barely audible voice as he looked up at her with teary eyes. Michonne sat down on the bed next to him and put her hand on his arm. He got up and started pacing the room, "I should never have left them. Why do I always leave them?! I should know by now that no one is ever safe, not even inside these walls! What kind of a father leaves his teenage son and infant daughter to defend themselves in a world like this! Lori would never have left them." Michonne walked over to Rick and put her arms around him in a tight hug. "Listen to me. You are a good father. You left them to lead the danger away from Alexandria. You were trying to protect them. They weren't alone; Carol was here too. There is no way you could have known another group of people were going to show up and attack them out of nowhere." She felt Rick's tears on her neck. "Carl is smart. I'm sure he took Judith somewhere safer. We'll find them." She pulled away to look him in the eye. "Trust me."
/
Rick's mind was racing; he couldn't stop pacing from wall to wall. He didn't even know what he was saying but he needed to talk, to move to keep his mind from picturing it. He was stopped by Michonne's arms wrapping around his neck in a hug. Her embrace immediately calms him. He wraps his arms around her, happy to have someone with him in this moment and happy it's her. Her words of encouragement and reassurance make him feel a little more optimistic but he still can't help but assume the worst. The idea of his son and daughter being gone is too much to bear as he lets his head fall onto her shoulder.
Their intimacy in this moment does not go unnoticed by either of them. Michonne knows that the odds of everyone coming out of this unscathed are low but knowing that they have each other makes all the difference in the world. She feels a pang of guilt for thinking about herself at a time like this but Rick's embrace feels right, like nothing else has since this whole apocalypse started.
Rick lets out a deep breath and pulls away to wipe the tears from his face, "I have to find them, they have to be here somewhere. I'm going to check the rest of the houses."
"I'll come with you."
"No, we'll cover more ground if we split up. You take the East side, I'll take the West."
Rick looked at Michonne as he waited for her to respond. He could tell she was worried about him. He knew she wanted to find Carl and Judith as much as he did and he was grateful for that but as much as he would like to have her by his side he knew they had a better chance of finding them if they split up.
Michonne didn't want to leave Rick to go off on his own in his current condition. She knew he was scared and vulnerable but he was right. They would find them faster if they went their separate ways. She nodded, "Okay, you're right." As they both walked out of the place they had come to know as home, Michonne grabbed Rick arm, "Be careful." A hint of a smile spread across his face, "You too."
/
She had searched every house on this street with no luck of finding Carl, Judith, or Carol. Physically and emotionally exhausted, she walked up to the last house on her side of the neighborhood. As she walked up the steps to the front door she heard voices coming from inside. Busting through the door, she sees Jessie and Ron standing in the Kitchen, Jessie covered in blood.
"Michonne? Thank god you're back. Did the plan work?"
"Not really. Is there anyone else here?"
"Michonne?" This familiar voice came from behind in the living room. She turned to see Carl standing there. Without hesitation she grabbed him and pulled him into a tight embrace. It had been a long time since she had been this happy to see someone. She could feel the tears welling in her eyes as she hugged him. She pulled back and grabbed his shoulder, looking him over. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
He looked at her slightly confused. "I'm fine. Are YOU okay?" She let out a little laugh and hugged him again. "I'm better now. We thought you were dead." Just as her thoughts went to Judith she herd Carol speak from across the room, "You're back." She lifted her head to see Carol walking toward her with Judith asleep in her arms. She let go of Carl and kissed Judith on the head, "Only she could sleep through all this."
She was so relieved that everyone was okay. She couldn't wait to tell Rick, he must be frantic, still searching for them. She turned back to Carl who was still looking at her with a bewildered look on his face. "We need to find your dad. He is going crazy looking for you. He had a bit of an emotional breakdown thinking he had lost you and Judith. The plan to draw the walkers away got messed up. Half of them are still following Abraham, Sasha, and Daryl as far as I know but the rest broke off in this direction following the noise. We got them scattered in different directions but some of them are still headed this way."
"There were others…people…they attacked Alexandria but we took care of it," said Carol.
Michonne could see that Carol had been fighting. She had the remnants of a red W on her forehead. "You all right," she asked her.
Carol looked at her then at Judith, "Yeah."
She was glad to see them all safe and unharmed but she knew that they didn't have much time before the rest of the walkers would get here. She looked back at Carl. "We need to find your Dad."
Ch.7 coming soon...:)