Chapter 9

Michonne stood frozen, staring at the oncoming group of walkers. How did they get in here so fast? Had she been gone that long? Where are Rick and Carl? A gunshot snapped her out of her stair as she turned to see Spencer and the other Alexandrians getting ready to fight the walkers. She reached behind her and grabbed hold of her katana. As she pulled it out from behind her she noticed more walkers coming from the top of the street; they were everywhere. She charged forward into the walkers and started swinging.

/

She didn't know how long they had been at it; it felt like ages. The arm that held her katana was growing so tired she could barely lift it. She had seen three Alexandrians get bitten and one retreat into a house. She could just make out Deanna fighting her way through the crowd swinging a knife and pushing it into a walker's head. Suddenly she felt something grab her by the shoulder and pull her back making her fall to the ground. She landed on her left shoulder and immediately felt the pain shoot through her arm and chest. From the ground she looked up to see several walkers looking down at her. Reaching for the gun at her right hip, she attempted to release it from the holster. Her fingers struggled with the clasp as she kicked at the walkers above her. She managed to kick one hard enough to knock it back into another walker as they both fell to the ground. The clasp finally snapping open, she got a hold of the handgun and pulled it out. As she cocked it, a walker on the ground to her left grabbed her injured arm making her scream out in pain.

Suddenly she heard a loud shot and looked up to see Spencer standing over her aiming at the walker on the ground next to her. He turned to her and reached out a hand, "COME ON!"

Michonne reached for his hand with her good arm and he pulled her up. He picked up her katana and together than ran from the herd. They ran into a nearby house and closed the door behind them.

"There's too many, we'll never make it out."

Michonne hunched over trying to catch her breath. She tried to move her left arm with little success. The pain was excruciating.

Spencer saw her wincing as she held her left shoulder.

"It's probably dislocated. Let me help you.."

"NO! We need to get back out there, find the others."

"If we don't fix it, it will only make it worse."

"This is gonna hurt," he said as he positioned her arm to pop it back in place.

"Just do it."

Suddenly she felt the pain shoot through her body then, just as fast, it was gone.

"Don't move it."

Spencer ran into the kitchen and returned with a towel that he was ripping into long strips.

"You're gonna need to take that off," he said looking at sheath for her katana.

She reached across her chest and pulled the sheath over her head.

Spencer started wrapping the towel strips around her to fasten a sling for her left arm.

When he finished he turned and started down the hall, "I'm gonna see if there are any weapons left in this house."

"Hey!"

He turned back to face her.

"Thanks."

He grinned and continued down the hall.

Michonne wandered into the kitchen looking for any kind of medicine she could find. She could still hear the herd outside along with a gunshot coming from a few streets over. She wondered if that was Rick's gun.

She found a bottle of Tylenol in a cabinet and swallowed a few pills just as Spencer walked in carrying a shotgun, "You ready?"

Michonne put her hand on her gun at her hip and looked at him, "Let's go."

/

Michonne and Spencer had been fighting through the walkers, along with Deanna for what seemed like hours. They were making their way toward Jessie's house where Judith was hopefully still being watched. Her left arm was in pain along with every other part of her exhausted body. By the time they made it to Jessie's house she felt like she was going to collapse. They had run out of bullets a while ago and had been forced to fight with only their knives. As they opened the door and walked in, Jessie came down the stairs with Judith in her arms followed by Ron.

Michonne sat down on a stool in the kitchen and laid her hand on the counter. She looked down and noticed that her hand was shaking, still tightly gripping her knife. She tried to loosen her grip but found it difficult.

Jessie came into the kitchen and sat down. Michonne felt a little weird being in a room alone with her. She knew that Jessie and Rick had been spending time together but she didn't know if there was anything going on between them. They had a lot in common. They are both single parents with sons about the same age. She found it odd that they were still friends after what Rick did to her husband. She was annoyed at the pettiness of her jealousy. She was not that kind of person and it was stupid to be jealous over a guy in their current circumstance.

Jessie cleared her throat, "How many do you think are out there?"

Michonne could tell by the look on Jessie's face that she was scared.

"Not as many as there were." She could see that didn't make Jessie feel any better.

"Rick and the rest of us are going to keep fighting until we clear this place of walkers."

Michonne heard yelling coming from outside and walked to the window overlooking the front yard and street. She couldn't make out any faces among the walkers but she heard the familiar voices, "DAD!"

"CARL, FIND HIGHER GROUND!"

Michonne ran out the front door and called to them from the porch, "IN HERE!"

She saw Carl emerge from the herd stabbing as he went, closely followed by Rick and Carol. They ran up the front steps and through the door, Michonne closing it behind them. As they all stood in the entrance catching their breath, she noticed Rick's head was bleeding pretty badly. He was looking at her too.

"It's just a scratch," he said with a slight grin.

"It better be," she smiled back.

/

The group had decided to hold up in Jessie's house for the night to rest. They were all exhausted and would need to regain some strength if they were going to keep fighting. Everyone else had found places to sleep around the house leaving Michonne and Rick in the main living room. Neither of them would be able to sleep tonight, not with the herd still outside.

Michonne was squirming in her makeshift sling trying to shift to a more comfortable place. She gave up and decided to take it off. She could feel Rick watching her from his chair.

"Does it hurt?"

"It's not too bad right now, more of an ache."

He nodded, "I dislocated my shoulder once in high school, hurt like hell."

A moment of silence passed before Michonne spoke.

"What about you? Does your 'scratch' hurt?"

He smiled at her emphasis on scratch.

"It stings a bit."

She got up and walked to the kitchen. He heard the faucet turn on then off. Michonne returned with a damp cloth in her hand, "Let me look at it."

He groaned as he lifted himself out of his chair. They both walked toward the floor lamp, the only light that was on in the house because it could not be seen from outside.

She stood facing him under the light, reaching to wipe the hair from his forehead. Once again she found herself thinking about how weird it felt to touch him because she did so rarely. She wondered if not touching each other had been a subconscious way to avoid their feelings for one another. She could feel his breath as she moved his hair to place the cloth on the scratch. Her heart was beating so fast she hoped he couldn't tell. She dabbed at the cut attempting to clean it but found it hard to concentrate. She felt his fingers touch her elbow. Up until this point she had been trying to avoid his eyes but she couldn't any longer. He was looking directly into her eyes in a way that made her heart stop. As she lowered her hand, his lingered on her shoulder. She couldn't believe this was happening. She thought for sure they would go on ignoring everything but he seemed to have other ideas in mind. His confidence in this moment made her even more terrified. There was a slight hitch in his breath as she dropped the cloth in her hand. He moved his hand again until it touched her cheek so lightly she could hardly feel it. They both had started moving closer together without noticing until they were inches apart.

This was it, she thought; this was the moment that would change everything. He took one final step closer until his lips were suddenly on hers. Both his hands were now cradling her face as he deepened the kiss while her hand tugged at the back of his shirt. Her heart continued to race but now she could feel his beating just as fast. Their bodies were completely pressed together as she felt his tongue slip into her mouth.

They were quickly interrupted by footsteps coming down the stairs. They pulled apart and took several steps away from each other as Carl walked into the room, "I can't sleep." He sat down on the couch completely oblivious to what he interrupted. Michonne and Rick sat down on opposite ends to the room. Carl leaned back in his seat and propped his feet on the coffee table. "I'm exhausted," he said as he laid his head back and closed his eyes.

Michonne looked back up at Rick who was watching her with an intense gaze, "I think we all are."