AN: For those confused by the Michonne/Beth interaction in chapter 32, you're no less confused than me. I don't know how it happened, but a little section got deleted between Michonne's musings and her responding "Not yet" which included Beth having caught up with her to help with the clean out of the house. The "not yet" was in response to Beth asking if she'd seen anything in the one they were currently in. I'm sorry for the deletion and really have no idea why/how it happened.
By the way, I keep mixing up names which is super annoying, but even when I reread to try to proofread it's only after I read it online or after someone points it out that I notice. So sorry.
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"Ain't I gonna look ridiculous, 'Chonne?" Daryl asked. He was holding Hope and Michonne was wrapping her to him.
Hope, who had become much more alert even over the past few days, and was now sleeping less and less, seemed to be enjoying this experience because every time Michonne put her face near her Hope smiled and cooed at her.
"Do I look ridiculous when I'm wearing her?" Michonne asked. She'd started wearing Hope around more often these days. Having finally given the wraps a chance, she and Carol both had discovered that they made it a lot easier to get things done and tend to Hope and Judith. Michonne was only a little disappointed that she, unlike Carol, didn't have the option of strapping the baby to her back due to her katana.
"Well, no." Daryl said. "You're her mama, it looks like you're supposed to have her strapped to you."
"And you're her daddy, and it's just as natural for you to have her strapped to you. It's just that this way you can still use your arms." Michonne said.
It was reasonable to Daryl. Hope was sleeping a lot less during the day now and therefore she was spending less time sleeping and wanted to be with them all more. Throughout the day it was normal to see her change arms time and time again as people took breaks and stole baby kisses.
"Besides, it won't be for too long." Michonne said. "You just have to play kangaroo while I go with Sasha and Carol to get water."
Michonne finished adjusting the wrap and kissed hope who gurgled in response.
"There, you're all set." She said, standing back to look at Daryl. He did look funny, but it was more the fact that he was wearing a very nervous face and still holding the baby awkwardly though he didn't have to anymore. "You can let go of her now, Daryl. She's not going anywhere." Michonne nudged. Daryl didn't look so sure about this suggestion and hesitated. "Daryl, would I tell you to drop our daughter?" Michonne said.
"No." Daryl said. "Are you sure it's tight enough?"
"I promise, Daryl. It's very tight." Michonne said.
"I mean it doesn't feel too tight. I could stand for it to be tighter." Daryl said.
"Daryl, if I wrap it any tighter it's going to crush both of you. It's tight enough. You can let go." Michonne said.
Daryl did let go, hesitantly, and Hope settled into position. Daryl smiled.
"Hey this isn't so bad." He said. "Is this what being pregnant is like 'Chonne?"
"As close as you're going to get." Michonne said. She kissed him and then kissed Hope again. "She's full, so she shouldn't want anything for a while. You should tuck a pacifier into wrap in case she does start to cry. We won't dawdle so we should be back before too long." Michonne said, strapping her katana on her back and getting ready to walk out of their front door.
"Be careful 'Chonne." Daryl said.
"You know I always am." Michonne responded.
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Maggie and Beth were on watch, although Beth was more there for decoration than anything, since she was tending Judith, and they opened the gates to let Michonne, Carol, and Sasha pass through. Just outside, Michonne and Sasha quickly killed the six Walkers that had been showing some interest in the gate all morning.
If they went in groups of three, which they normally did, they were able to carry back four buckets of water at a time. The middle person would carry two buckets and the other two would cover them, carrying only one bucket to allow them to carry their weapon in the other. Michonne liked going with Sasha as her second back up. Sasha had really good reflexes and it didn't seem to faze her to take down a Walker.
"So I was thinking about talking to Daryl about what Hershel had suggested about planting some vegetables and things. We could use a lot of the yards that we're not using for anything and when it starts to warm up we could plant vegetables. You know, the extra food supply could prolong how long we stay here. I used to do some canning, so we could grow more than we need and save it up." Carol said.
"I don't have a problem with it." Michonne said. "I think Daryl will like the idea. Nobody wants to have to move on anywhere else."
"It's really starting to feel safe." Sasha said. "I'm starting to really feel at home. I've even started decorating and I never thought I'd ever be decorating again in my life."
"I know what you mean. Yesterday I found a couch in one of the houses that we cleaned out that I liked better than ours so I got Daryl to help me switch them out. Not too long ago I wouldn't have been able to imagine having a couch, and now I'm being picky about it." Michonne said.
"I like the new couch. It really is nicer than the old one." Carol said.
"To your left." Michonne said. Sasha turned and quickly killed the Walker that was approaching her.
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"Well would you look at that." Glenn said looking over his shoulder at Daryl approaching.
"Y'all need some help?" Daryl asked.
"Daryl, don't look now, but you're growing something." Glenn said.
"Don't make fun of me. Michonne and Carol both went to get water." Daryl said. "Carl already laughed at me."
Glenn and Tyreese were busy hanging wire around the fence for extra protection. It was starting to get chilly at night, so they were trying to prepare for the winter. Rick and Rachel had gone on their first supply run in the town, mostly hoping to see what the pharmacy had since they hadn't even finished cleaning out houses yet and the food supply was already coming together nicely. Plus they wouldn't have to go far for food if they needed it from town. Daryl had asked Carl to work on taking supplies down to Carol's place that he found in the houses they still hadn't cleaned out. There were still quite a few Walker cleared ones that he could go through, so it was a pretty safe job to do alone. The extra layer of wire had been Glenn's idea. Not that any herd that could make it through the bars wouldn't be able to push through the wire, but he figured it added a level of protection to anyone around the fences if they couldn't get so much of their arms through.
"No, Daryl, we won't make fun of you. Can't nobody say Daryl Dixon isn't a good father." Tyreese said. "Jump on in here if you can do it with the baby, but you'll need a pair of work gloves. Glenn got four stitches this morning to teach him that."
"It's true." Glenn said. "I won't try to do this without gloves anymore."
"Well I wouldn'ta thought 'bout tryin' it without gloves in the first place." Daryl said, getting started on a patch of the fence.
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When Michonne, Carol, and Sasha brought the buckets back in, Rachel stepped out of the house that they used as headquarters.
"Hey, gals, come here. Maggie, Beth, you too. It won't take but a minute and nothing is going on out here anyway. I got us a little something at the pharmacy." Rachel called. They all trumped up the stairs and inside to the living room that they considered their meeting room. "Here, look." Rachel said, holding out a bottle to Carol.
"I have no idea what I'm looking at." Carol said taking the bottle.
"It's Depo, it's the birth control shot. I cleaned them out of it and syringes. You just give it to us every three months, or in our case ninety days, and voila! We don't have to worry about finding condoms anymore. I got enough that it should last us a while." Rachel said.
Carol looked at the bottle and read the label. "Well, there are dosing instructions, but I have to admit that I've never given anyone a shot before." She said. "You would be guinea pigs."
"It's not that hard." Rachel said. "I went to nursing school for a while, but I ended up dropping out because science wasn't my thing and I didn't realize how much of it I would have to take. I thought it would just be hands on stuff. I can show you. I already measured them out and got you rubbing alcohol." She said, pointing at the coffee table.
"OK, then, who's first? Maggie? Michonne?" Carol asked.
Maggie saw Michonne back up a little.
"I'll be the guinea pig." Maggie said, shrugging.
"Pants down and you can lean over here." Rachel said pointing to the wall.
"Maggie unbuttoned her pants and followed Rachel." Maggie waited while Rachel was giving instructions to Carol. "Michonne, your face is hilarious. Are you scared?" She paused a minute. "You are, aren't you?" Maggie's musings were interrupted. When Carol was done she buttoned her pants again. She looked at Michonne and started laughing. "Oh my God, this is great! You look terrified! Please tell me you're kidding me right now!"
"Maggie, behave." Carol said.
"What?" Maggie said. "This is seriously hilarious!" She continued laughing. "It's Michonne! I've seen her with stab wounds, I've seen her with gunshot wounds, I've seen her get stitched up, and I've seen her give birth and she looks terrified right now!" Maggie was hardly able to breathe from her laughing. Michonne didn't say anything to her.
Carol swatted at Maggie and Maggie hopped out of her reach.
"Maggie, stop laughing at her. Everybody has phobias. Beth's petrified of wasps and you're terrified of spiders and I've never once heard Michonne laugh at you when you asked her to kill a spider for you." Carol said.
"But it's Michonne!" Maggie repeated, having controlled her laughter for the moment, but looking like she might start again. "It's just a little stick, nothing like anything she's handled without hardly flinching."
"Phobias are irrational. I've seen you drive a screwdriver through a Walker's head, but you can't hit a spider the size of a skittle with your shoe. That's irrational." Carol said. Maggie stopped laughing a minute. "Come on, Michonne. Let's get this over with and you won't have to worry anymore." Carol said. Michonne reluctantly walked over, unbuttoning her pants and Maggie snickered again. "The thing about needle phobias are that they're less about the actual event and more about knowing that something is coming and having to wait for it. Michonne was nervous before her labor pains started up to, but then she handled the labor and birth without any problem." Carol said.
When Carol was done, Michonne buttoned her pants. "I wouldn't say without any problem." She said, rubbing her butt cheek.
"Your turn, Rachel." Carol said. "I would say without any problem. You were pretty stoic most of the time, all things considering. And just now you flinched less than Maggie."
Carol finished with Rachel. Maggie and Beth were sitting on the couch together now, Maggie still fighting not to laugh anymore. Sasha was leaning against the wall watching everything.
"I'm sorry, but your face was hilarious." Maggie said.
"Don't worry, Maggie," Carol started, "you'll be getting a little surprise one of these days and Michonne will get her chance to laugh at you."
Maggie's eyes got big and she stopped laughing. "You wouldn't do that, would you?" She asked.
"Mmm." Sasha said. "Payback's a bitch, that's why I don't laugh at anybody for anything like that. Bad karma."
Then it was Michonne's turn to laugh.
"Oh and Maggie, I'm not killing any more of your eight legged friends." Michonne added.
"But Carol, if it's Michonne I was laughing at then it should be Michonne that would do something. It's not fair if you do it." Maggie said.
"I don't really like spiders. I just killed them for you because I knew how scared you were of them. Carol is the spider whisperer." Michonne said.
"You wouldn't really do that, would you, Carol?" Maggie asked, looking very worried.
Carol just smiled. Michonne smiled at her. "So, Maggie, I guess that's what my face looked like. It is pretty funny."
"I guess I'll get Brenda when she gets up for dinner." Carol said. She made no response to Maggie's worrying.
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Michonne and Sasha went to help get wire up. Michonne approached Daryl as soon as she got there.
"How did you two make out while I was gone?" She asked. Hope smiled, dropping the pacifier that had been in her mouth.
"She sure knows your voice." Daryl said. Hope was starting to cry and Michonne was trying to get her out of the wrap.
"Of course she does, I'm the one with the food." Michonne said.
"You know it's more than that." Daryl said. "She was gettin' kinda cranky, though. I changed her diaper earlier, but I told her I ain't had nothin' to give her to eat on but that pacifier."
Having freed her, Michonne offered Hope what she wanted and the baby immediately went to greedily sucking.
"Well, now she'll be good to go." Michonne said. Daryl went back to working. "Where's Rick?" She asked.
"He's gone to clean Walkers out of some of the houses we haven't gotten to yet. Carl's moving supplies, and I'm not really sure what anyone else is doing right now." Daryl said.
"Maggie and Beth are on watch. Josh and Brenda are still sleeping. I'm sure Rachel and Carol will be starting to make dinner soon. We won't be out here too much longer before its dinner time."
"How's the fence looking, Michonne?" Glenn asked.
"Looking good." Michonne said. "You've made a lot of progress."
"I figure we'll have it done by some time tomorrow." Daryl said. "It looks like it might rain, though, so that might throw a wrench into those plans."
"I could use a rain break, to tell the truth." Glenn said. "I think we could all do with a rain break. We've been busting it pretty good."
Michonne sat back and watched everyone. Hope was taking her time eating and Michonne was enjoying it. She was constantly amazed at the little day to day changes. They'd been joking that Hope was starting to develop a little bit more of a personality beyond the typical baby personality. She was fiercely motivated by food, and that was the touchiest subject for her. The rest of the time she was pretty happy and had lots of smiles for everyone. She'd also begun to respond to voices, mostly noticing Michonne, Daryl, and Carol. Judith had broken some milestones as well. She was now saying a few simple words that circled mostly around eating. She had created a title that they had figured out was what she was going to call Carol, though it sounded more like she was mimicking the sound of a crow. She had also started standing, holding onto different things, but she wasn't brave enough yet to let go of them.
When Hope finished eating Michonne got up. "Do you want me to help here?" She asked. Daryl thought for a minute.
"I tell ya what, if you're feelin' up to some Walker killin', put her back in here and you take Sasha and go clean out some more houses. It'd be good to get 'em all cleaned out soon so we can stop burnin' Walkers so often. It's makin' this place smell terrible." Daryl said.
Michonne silently helped him get Hope snuggled back into her place. She looked like she was considering a nap. Michonne kissed her little eyelids and then kissed Daryl.
"You like being a kangaroo more than you thought you would." She said.
"Yeah, it ain't so bad. I getta hang out with Hope and I can still get things done." He said, smiling.
"Come on, Sasha, let's go on Walker duty." Michonne said. Sasha took off the gloves she was wearing and followed after her.
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The alarm system of the community was complicated and imperfect to say the least. They had equipped each house with air horns and various bells that they had found so that each house could have some method of signaling distress. They'd also brought the gong in that Glenn and Maggie had found, and tested it. You could hear it in most places in the community, though not throughout, but it worked well for that street and that was all they were really worried about. They'd only used it a few times to test it since they'd been lucky and so far it appeared they were completely free from attacks.
They had also found Carol a rather loud supper bell that she used to let everyone know when it was mealtime. The downside to the supper bell was that you couldn't hear it throughout the community and if you were in a house that was farther away from it you really couldn't hear it, meaning that some of them were often late to eat.
Michonne was hungry, and she had the instinct that they were getting close to time to eat, so she kept stepping out the doors and listening for the bell. She was more than surprised, however, when it wasn't the bell she heard, but the gong. Michonne yelled for Sasha and both of them darted out the house toward Carol's place, not knowing what kind of distress they should be prepared for.
What they saw when they got there was not what they expected. Maggie was there talking to what appeared to be a middle aged couple, Beth was talking to two young guys who might have been college aged at best. Another man, somewhere between the two age groups, was standing, leaning against the fence.
Carol, who apparently had been ringing the gong came jogging up, with Carl close behind her. The others, no doubt, would be making their appearances shortly.
The "solo" man of the new group walked up to Michonne.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" He said. Michonne immediately felt the hair on her neck bristle. "Looks like they was smart and got them a couple ah jungle bunnies to work for 'em, huh?" He said. His voice made Michonne cringe even more than the insult. It was like looking at Merle reincarnated. She must have involuntarily moved a little because he smiled. "Don't worry, Midnight, I prefer my coffee with a little more cream in it." He said gesturing slightly toward Sasha. As he stepped forward he was surprised that out of nowhere there was suddenly a blade between them, right at his eye level. No one said anything. "Whoa, take it easy." He said backing up a little. Michonne glared at him.
Glenn had arrived with Tyreese and Daryl. Tyreese had a hand on Daryl's shoulder, assuring him that Michonne could handle the situation. Everyone else had kind of frozen stiffly. Glenn, himself, was a little surprised to come jogging up to find Michonne with her katana drawn, holding it in his face. Her face was completely transformed. Michonne had changed so much, letting her guard down often with them now, that that Michonne still existed, but it was clear now that she was still in there.
The man backed up a little more and spit in the dirt. Michonne lowered the katana, but didn't make any move to sheathe it. "I woulda thought you'd be more the spear carryin' kind." He said. Michonne didn't say anything, she just continued to stare at him.
"What the hell y'all want here?" Daryl said, stepping beside Michonne now.
The middle aged man of the group came forward. Looking a little nervously at Michonne and a little nervously at his traveling companion.
"We have been wandering around for months." He said. "We got split up from the rest of our group when a herd attacked our camp. We were just passing through and we saw some smoke. We thought it might be our group, so we followed it. That's when we ran up on you all." He looked at Daryl for a minute, who kept glancing over at the man. "My name is Frank, and that's my wife Dora." He added. "The two boys that are travelling with us were college roommates. Their names are Jimmy and Junior. I see you've already met Earl."
Frank looked apologetic, but he didn't outright apologize for Earl's behavior. Daryl wasn't sure about this group. Everyone looked alright, except maybe Earl, and it was Earl he didn't trust. He also wasn't ready for formal introductions. He noticed that Earl kept glancing at Hope, who was awake but not fussing. Daryl also noticed that Michonne still had her katana drawn. She was as wary of Earl as he was.
"Yeah, so, we ain't your group and we ain't seen 'em." Daryl said.
"We were hoping that you might let us stay here. We're not likely to find out group and it's dangerous out there. We started out looking for them with three others, but we've lost them." Frank said, obviously realizing that Earl's introduction probably hadn't won them the best chance.
Daryl thought a moment and then turned and walked over to where Tyreese and Glenn were standing. Rick had come up close behind them.
"What do you think?" Daryl whispered. "I don't like that Earl guy."
"I think Earl's an ignorant asshole, but I don't think he's too much of a threat. If Michonne thought he was she'd have lopped his head off by now." Tyreese said.
"Yeah, my brother was one of those ignorant assholes." Daryl said.
"It is getting dark," Glenn said, "and it would be pretty bad to turn them out knowing they probably won't make it. Why don't we consider a trial? We've got more than enough extra houses, so we just give them one to see what they're like. We can all lock our doors at night, so they can't really do anything to us."
"What do you think, Tyreese? I don't want to invite no other Governor right into our space." Daryl said.
"Earl isn't Governor material. He's too stupid." Tyreese said. "I don't see how the trial could hurt. It's like Glenn said, we can lock our doors and we'd wake up if he were dumb enough to try to break one down. I say just for the night we let them stay and then we think about it in the morning."
Rick, who had been calming down a little bit since the stress of his leadership responsibilities had been lifted, nodded his head. "I'd say one night. If that goes well we can all discuss tomorrow what we want to do about them."
Daryl didn't say anything, but he nodded thoughtfully and turned back to talk to Frank.
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"Well, ain't this interestin'." Earl said as Carol handed him a plate. "I'da thought you'da had one a your blackies doin' the servin', but you must just keep them around for makin' squirrels."
"Earl," Dora ventured timidly, "we are in their home, we should be polite." She had thanked them profusely for offering them shelter for the night and a meal. The boys too had seemed grateful. It was only Earl who seemed to think that he was entitled to it.
"Yeah, so why don't you shut the fuck up?" Daryl said. He really didn't like this Earl character. In fact, other than the Governor he couldn't think of anyone that he had disliked so strongly. No one else was really speaking.
"Hey, take it easy. I weren't tryin' to ruffle no feathers. I was just callin' a spade a spade." Earl said. "I'm sorry if you got all bent outta shape about it."
Luckily, after that Earl was quiet. Michonne still didn't like the looks of him, and she didn't care much for the thought of his hanging around. She had agreed with their decision to let the group stay for one night, feeling that the others, without their travel companion, might have actually been able to join them. Earl, however, was probably not going to fit in well. They'd only tolerated Merle because he was Daryl's brother.
The world comes to an end and already we've been lucky enough to find two racist, ignorant assholes. Michonne thought. Don't we have all the luck?
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"Do you really think Carol will put a spider on Maggie?" Daryl asked Michonne. She had told him the story about Maggie to lighten the mood a little, since he was worrying more than necessary. He'd checked all the doors and windows three times, but everything was still outside, indicating that the other group had probably gone to bed. She was brushing her teeth.
"I don't know. I wouldn't doubt it. You know how Carol is about being the disciplinarian." Michonne said, holding her hand under her mouth in an effort to make less of a mess with the foam.
"Why'd you go and let 'em do that anyway?" Daryl asked. "I thought you told me that if we was safe here and we was gonna stay for a long time, then we could maybe have another."
Michonne rinsed her mouth and dried it. Then she headed to the bed.
"What I told you, Daryl, is that we maybe could have another at some point." Michonne said. "We still don't know for sure how long we're going to be here. We're still testing the water to see how safe it is."
"Yeah, but now you done gone and done that and there ain't even no chance." Daryl said.
"There's always a chance. Nothing about birth control is one hundred percent. But this stuff wears off after a while, so if, and I did say if, we decide to have another I can stop taking it. It only lasts for three months a dose." Michonne said. "Pull your lips back in, Daryl, the sky isn't falling. We were going to have to wait for a while. I'm not a gumball machine."
Daryl pulled her to him. "I didn't think you was no gumball machine, but I was kinda thinkin' we'd do it soon so Hope and her brother could be close in age."
"You do remember that I told you that you don't always get the other gender next, right Daryl?" Michonne said.
"I know, but I told you that my kids in my head always come out even. All four of 'em." Daryl said.
"Well, I'm not having four children. I've already had three and agreeing to have one more is having had four. That's my limit." Michonne said. Daryl was lightening up now.
"Can't you just think about it a little 'Chonne? I mean if we was to grow food like Carol said, we could really stay here for a long time." Daryl pushed.
"OK, Daryl, I tell you what. I'll think about it as long as we don't talk about it anymore." Michonne said.
"Deal." Daryl said.
"Ever." Michonne added. Daryl laughed. He was quiet for a minute, just rubbing his hand up and down Michonne's arm.
"I didn't like that he called Hope a squirrel." Daryl said.
"He's an ignorant fuck, Daryl. Don't worry about it." Michonne said.
"Merle woulda said somethin' like that." Daryl said. He was quiet for a minute. "I mighta said somethin' like that at some point too."
Daryl looked sad again.
"Well, Daryl, we have all changed. The important thing is that you wouldn't say anything like that now and that you've learned to be truly sorry for maybe having said it in the past. You don't think like that now, and though it's sad that you once did, it's important to focus on the fact that you don't now." Michonne said.
Daryl didn't say anything. He still looked sad. Michonne kissed him and he kissed back.
"Don't worry about it anymore, Daryl, just get some sleep." She said. "Think about your four kids that I'm not going to have." Daryl smiled at her and laid his head down.