"Well, good morning, Dale Evans," Michonne said, approaching Carol.
Carol looked up at her, she was doing something under her cloak, but Carol couldn't really figure out what was going on there.
"What are you doing?" Carol asked.
Michonne laughed a little. "Hope is inside my shirt, under my cloak, and I'm trying to make this work out better for both of us. I'd feed her normally but I'm afraid my breasts will freeze off out here."
Carol laughed at her. "They might."
"Oatmeal and canned ham?" Michonne asked.
"You got it," Carol said.
"Mmm, I wish I could say that sounded delicious, but it doesn't, no offense," Michonne said.
"None taken," Carol responded.
"So?" Michonne asked after a second, obviously struggling with Hope who was protesting, although her cries were muffled.
"So what?" Carol asked.
"So, tell me about it, as if I didn't already know. You're looking a little stiff there," Michonne said snickering. She sat down on the grass and Carol threw an empty can at her.
"Is it really that obvious?" Carol asked. She blushed a little.
"No, I mean I'm sure you could just convince everyone that you got up this morning and went for a nice horseback ride before breakfast," Michonne ribbed. Carol made a face at her. "I'm serious, tell me. I want to know."
"I don't want to talk about it, Michonne," Carol said.
"That's a lie. Everyone wants to talk about it, and you're no different. Was it good? Was it what you wanted it to be?" Michonne pressed. Hope was obviously done and she struggled to get her out of her position and get her bra back into place without falling over in the grass, most of the snow having already melted away.
"Most of it was good. I'm pretty sore, though. I think we'll be taking at least a short break," Carol said.
Michonne laughed. "I think Daryl is scarred now. I guess we owe you an apology for all we make you listen to."
"It doesn't bother me, actually," Carol said. "In the prison it was bad, but you know that's because of all the squeaking cots. At the house I hardly notice it. In fact, I think I notice it more when y'all don't do anything than when you do."
"Good morning, girls," Dora said, walking up. "Anything I can help with to get breakfast ready?"
"It's almost ready," Carol said. "You can have a seat with Michonne if you want. We're just gossiping."
Dora looked at Michonne, sitting on the grass.
"Oh, no, I'll stand. If I got down there it would take three or four people to get me back up," she said, laughing.
"Is Frank coming down to breakfast?" Carol asked. Some days he came, others he didn't.
"No, the old grump says he's tired and it's too cold to get out, so I'll take him something. Where's Judith?" Dora asked.
"Daryl has her," Michonne said. "She's hanging out with him until it's chow time."
"Which is right about now," Carol said, walking over and ringing the bell that they'd all come to know signaled that they had very little time to get down to headquarters if they wanted their meal at the peak of its goodness.
A tired Josh and Brenda were the first to join them, always hanging close by when it was almost breakfast time. It signaled a nice meal to them and the end of their night, which had essentially become the end of their day. They seemed to have no problem, though, with the fact that they'd been turned into more or less nocturnal animals.
They went straight into headquarters, both muttering a "good morning" as they sauntered past. Carol pulled Michonne to her feet.
"Do you have any milk left?" Carol asked.
"Always do," Michonne responded.
"Get in the kitchen and pump some then. We can make the girls some rice cereal," Carol commanded. Michonne didn't say anything, but she did start toward the house.
Dora heaved up one of the big pots and Carol got the other. They both headed toward the house so that Carol could start rationing out food onto plates for everyone that would pile in waiting for their share.
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 1111
"We're gonna start on that house today," Daryl said. He was sitting at the table, alternating between eating his own breakfast and trying to force Hope to eat the same bite of cereal over and over. He'd put it in her mouth, and she'd spit it right back out. Michonne thought it was funny to watch them. She got annoyed when Hope would play this "not going to eat it game," but Daryl had infinite patience with her.
"Do you really think we're going to be able to do it?" Maggie asked. "I mean that's a lot of work."
"It's a lot of work, and we'll have to take turns, but I think it can be done. I may need y'all to go out on a tool run soon, though. I wanna see what it looks like we're gonna need and then I'll send y'all out," Daryl responded.
"No problem," Maggie said. "Anything we can do to help."
"We've got a couple of sledgehammers already, and we've scrounged up some crowbars and wheelbarrows, but I'm guessing the more we have the better. If we get more people working then it won't take so long. We could make real progress," Tyreese said.
"And more space means more food as soon as we can start plantin'," Daryl said.
"And more food means more time," Glenn added.
Dominique listened to the conversation. In all his groups before they'd spent all their time traveling. The way to stay alive was not to stay still. In this group, however, the dynamic was different. They were like ants. Work involved going out to find things and bringing them all back to the colony. There was always something to do here. You could get heavy lifting jobs, or you could get some of the simpler jobs, but you always had a job. Granted, they were often given days to rest and have fun, and those were really nice, but for the most part, you were hustling. The job they had ahead of them sounded like a monster to do, but in a way Dominique didn't mind. He slept well here, in an actual bed, and he ate well. He also felt safe while he was doing his jobs, sleeping in his bed, and eating hot food. There was something to be said about that. It was something they weren't familiar with any longer in his other groups.
"Are we all gonna start on the house first or are we gonna split up between the house and the street?" He asked. He'd never swung a sledgehammer before, but it sounded like he was going to be doing a lot of it in his very near future.
Daryl stopped what he was doing a minute. "I reckon' we're gonna split up. I mean realistically it's gonna take us a while to do either of 'em, but it'd be better if we was workin' through both at the same time."
"Carol, is there any of that ham left?" Dominique asked. He decided he needed the best breakfast he could get for what they were going to be doing today.
Carol smiled at him and took his plate. Dominique realized he'd very seldom seen her consume a meal sitting down. She mostly stayed on her feet, serving everyone else and stealing bites of her own food when she got the chance. It made Dominique think about his grandmother. She'd been the same way with him and his siblings, his mother having died when he was four. When she brought his plate back to him, still smiling, he thanked her. He tried to be sure he always thanked her when she did something for him. That was another thing his grandmother had taught him. Manners were always important, and he was sure that even though life had turned out like this, his grandmother would still not expect any less of him.
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 11111111
Dora took a plate of food down to Frank and then joined Michonne and Carol to finish washing dishes. Everyone else was already wandering around, accomplishing the various tasks to which they'd been assigned.
Daryl had already taken Judith down to "Frank's Nursery" as he called it, but Michonne was wearing Hope around at the time, the little girl not being entirely in the mood to be separated from her. She had her moments, from time to time, when she would go to Daryl, but she didn't want anyone else. Michonne didn't push her, she liked having her close to her, and secretly she enjoyed it a little when Hope protested the others, since sometimes it seemed like the girls had no preference at all about who they were with. She knew that Carol secretly enjoyed it to when Judith demanded that no one else touch her.
"What are you doing today?" Dora asked Carol.
"Me? I've got some work to do in storage. There's still a mess in there, and Rachel is cleaning out some houses for me, so that means more will be coming in," Carol responded.
"I'm going down to get in on the demolition team," Michonne said.
"If you don't have anything pressing for me to do, I think I'll just stay with Frank and the girls," Dora said. The cold isn't being too kind to him and he might need a little help, especially now since Hope is starting to fine tune her ability to scoot," Dora said.
"That's fine." Carol said. "It helps more than you know to have you two to take care of the girls during the day. It saves me from running around with my hands full all day, trying to keep up with them, and now that they're doing demolition work, it really isn't practical or safe for Michonne to try to take Hope with her."
"I love the little angels. I think if I had granddaughters, I'd want them to be just like those two," Dora said.
"Did you have grandchildren?" Carol asked.
"I have a grandson," Dora said. She refused to speak of her family in past tense. She didn't know for sure what had happened to them when everything happened, but she wasn't going to write them off. She and Frank had made it this far, and she was no spring chicken and Frank was a good deal older than her, so she couldn't very well imagine that none of her family had made it through. She half-heartedly hoped to find them appearing at the gates one day, just as they had, and just as Dominique had. What a reunion that would be!
Carol nodded at Dora. "You weren't with your family when all this started, I guess?"
"No, we were on vacation. They lived spread out anyway. My kids all flew the coup as soon as they could, and Frank and I moved to Florida. We started traveling. We both love to travel. Rode around in an RV. Frank loved to drive that thing and we stopped everywhere, collecting spoons," Dora said. "Now I don't even know where we live." She chuckled.
"I'm almost positive we're still in Georgia," Carol said.
"We are," Michonne said. She was quiet for a minute. "The town next to this is where I used to live." She thought a minute and then laughed a little. "I've almost gone in a circle since I started roaming."
They finished the dishes and Carol doused what was left of the breakfast fire with the water. Michonne kissed Hope, freeing her from the wrap. Hope laughed at her.
"Dora, I think she's full," Michonne said, "but if she's not, I'll be on the other end of the community if you need me."
"She'll be fine," Dora said, taking the little girl. Hope protested at first, but Dora kissed her neck, tickling her and distracting her from the fact that her mother was walking away without having been given permission. "Carol, do we have any extra blankets in storage? I was hoping to get a few. I've put some down on the floor for the girls to play on, but I'd like a few more to keep thrown around for wrapping up," she said.
"We've got more than enough. Come on, I'll get you some," Carol said. Dora followed her across the street to the storage house.
1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
On the far side of the community, some people were working, some people were resting, and others were surveying the work to be done.
"Right about now, I'm wishin' more of them damn teenagers would show up," Daryl said to Tyreese, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "It's fuckin' freezin' out here and I'm sweatin' like they ain't no tomorrow."
"I know what you mean," Tyreese said, taking a drink of water. Carol had been back and forth bringing them water, only once stealing a few of their workers to send out for more.
"Man I'm gon' be hungry tonight!" Daryl said, laughing. "Take a break, woman!" Daryl called at Michonne. He'd tried to give her one of the easier jobs, but she'd insisted on breaking up pavement with a sledgehammer, insisting that her back and shoulders were probably stronger than those of most of the people out there. Right now, her face was literally dripping sweat. "You don't gotta bust the whole damn street up in one day," he called.
"In a minute," she responded. Her voice strained.
Glenn came out the house with another armload of wood and put it into one of the wheelbarrows they'd lined up. The brick they could salvage they were going to pile up, with the intention of doubling the strength of the fence when someone got the urge to do some brick laying. The wood they were going to pile up to be used as firewood or whatever else they needed it for.
Tyreese had already decided he was using some of the material to build a nice little shed for Carol to keep wood in. A covered shed would keep more if it dry and save her trouble on damp days.
"I think we've made a very bad mistake giving Maggie an axe," Glenn said, coming over for water. "She's enjoying it way too much. She's tearing down walls like crazy in there, and frankly it's making me a little afraid for my life." He laughed.
"You? I've already decided that if Michonne had half a mind to she could take up beatin' on me." Daryl said. Glenn laughed at him.
"Goggles," Glenn said.
"Huh?" Daryl responded.
"When we go on the run we need safety goggles. There's too much stuff flying around out here and we don't need somebody getting blinded," Glenn said, still trying to get his breath.
"You got a point there," Tyreese said.
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 111111111
Carol was trying to figure out what to make for dinner. Her crew was going to be hungry. With the exception of Dora and Frank, who were watching the girls, Sasha and Stella, who were watching the gates, and Carl and Rachel, who were cleaning out houses, everyone else was going to be famished. Every time she'd gone down there to check on them she was more and more impressed by the progress they'd made in such a short amount of time.
The bloodcurdling screams that she heard echoed even in the house, and Carol ran out the door without thinking, terrified of what was causing them. She ran out into the street and looked around, trying to figure out where they had come from. It didn't take her long to notice, just a few doors down, Dora running down the porch steps, still issuing the cries, both of the girls howling along with her. Carol took off in a run, unsure of if anyone else could hear them, and still not entirely sure what was causing the almost inhuman screams.
"Help! Help!" She screamed as she ran toward them.
She saw Dora fall, the girls going down with her, and then Carol noticed Frank, coming out of the house, except he wasn't Frank anymore. Carol bounded past Dora, afraid that what used to be Frank would make it somehow down the porch steps and after his prey. She ran up the steps, toward, him reaching for her knife.
Shit! Finding the holster empty she realized that it had been sometime since she'd carried the knife, and now she had just run toward a fresh Walker unarmed. She turned as quickly as she could, almost falling, trying to get back down the steps before he could make a grab at her.
The shot rang out just as Carol was bounding off the last step. She didn't know where it had come from, but the growling behind her ceased.
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 1111111111
When the shot rang out, no one had known what to do at first. It was like everyone had frozen.
It was just a shot, a single, solitary shot. They'd heard nothing else.
Michonne's stomach flip flopped and she dropped the hammer she was holding, breaking out into a run back across the community. Whatever it was, it couldn't be Hope and it couldn't be Carol. It just couldn't be. She was completely unaware of the others that were running behind her, and unaware that her body was protesting the speed that she was demanding of it.
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 1111111111
When Carol got her senses back, she thanked Carl who had apparently been nearby in his traipsing back and forth with boxes and had the quickness to put Frank down before he'd descended upon her.
When Carol got to Dora and the girls, there was no reason to ask if she'd been bit. She clearly had several times. She was soaked in blood, and so were the howling children. Carol didn't really know what to do for a minute, she felt helpless. She wanted to check the girls, praying that the blood that covered them wasn't their own, and she also didn't know what to do about Dora, who was shaking, sobbing, and very obviously suffering.
Carl rushed over and Carol quickly passed him Judith. Michonne came up behind her, gasping for breath to the point that she was incapable of even speaking, she was grabbing for Hope and Carol passed her the baby.
Carol turned her attention to Dora, moving around to support her head on her lap. Carol was crying, and she couldn't control it. She stroked Dora's hair.
"I thought he was taking a nap," Dora sputtered. "I tried to keep him away from the girls."
"Judith's not bit," Carl said softly.
"Hope's not bit, either." Daryl said, gasping. He'd taken the baby from Michonne, who looked like she might pass out if she didn't get more air.
Dora half smiled up at Carol, before wincing again. "They're OK," she said.
Carol just nodded at her, trying to smile. She knew that it wouldn't be long, Dora was bleeding out quickly.
"They're safe. You kept them safe," Carol said, when she could finally find her voice. She continued to stroke Dora's hair. Dora didn't say anything else, she just looked up at Carol until she finally drew her last breath. Carol sat there a minute, still holding her head, waiting to make sure that it was really the final one.
Finally she felt someone pulling on her arm. It was Tyreese. He helped her to her feet and pulled her to him.
"Come on," he said softly. He pulled her towards headquarters, she was still not entirely sure of her surroundings. Her knees were shaky and he had to support most of her weight to keep her from falling to the ground.
Carol jumped when she heard the gunshot behind her.
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 111111111
Daryl looked around the room at dinner. The air was so heavy that you could cut it with a knife. Michonne had barely eaten, and was now sitting, stroking Hope's face while she slept. Carol hadn't made dinner, nor had she served it. Rachel had offered to do that while Glenn, Rick, and Daryl dug the graves, and with the help of Junior, Jimmy, and Dominque got the bodies laid to rest. They hadn't had a funeral, per se, but each of the teenagers that had known them best had said something, mostly paying a teary tribute to Frank and his quietness, recounting stories of the few times that he had entertained them with some exaggerated war story. They told about Dora's kindness, her mothering gentleness, and how she'd always had the ability to find the good in everything they'd been through. They told about the two bickering back and forth, but how you could always tell that there was a love there that neither one had to speak about. Daryl didn't know it until tonight, but apparently the two had been together since Dora had been 15 years old.
I guess it's only fittin' that they go together. Daryl thought, sadly. It made him think about Michonne, and how much he loved her. He'd want to go with her, or shortly after, because he couldn't imagine now what it would it be to live without her. Dora had wanted to save the girls, and she had done that, sacrificing herself in the process. Daryl thought, though, that she probably hadn't minded the sacrifice so much, because it meant that she didn't have to learn to live without Frank. He had been a crotchety old coot, but there must have been something to him to make her go on loving him for all those years.
The teenagers weren't taking this loss well at all. Anyone could see that. They'd all sort of bunched together, Jimmy and Junior were especially sore, and had muttered several times that neither of them would be alive if it hadn't been for Frank's guidance when they were on their own. It was a hard blow, to everyone. They'd known it before, but now it was especially obvious. You could die in your sleep and take out someone that you loved without ever knowing it, without ever realizing that you would be their killer.
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 1111111
Michonne had insisted that Hope sleep with them, and Daryl hadn't fought her on it at all. Now, Michonne was asleep, and so was Hope, curled up against her mother's body. Daryl couldn't sleep, so he'd been lying there, his head on his arm, watching both of them and listening to their breathing. He was sad about all that had happened today, sad to realize that Dora's laughter, her chatter was gone. It wouldn't be entertaining them at breakfast anymore. He was even sad that Frank's grunts that constituted most conversations were gone now. Daryl had been fond of him, seeing how the old man put on such a front of being strong, of not really caring about anything, but then catching, every now again, the smiles that he offered to the two little girls that he'd spent a lot of his time coddling and entertaining.
More than the sadness, though, Daryl felt thankful that he was able to be here right now, watching Michonne and Hope sleep. He didn't want to imagine what this night would be like if, when he had taken Hope from Michonne, terrified, he hadn't found that the blood that coated his daughter had belonged to Dora. That was something he couldn't bear to think about.
Daryl finally leaned over and kissed Michonne, who didn't stir at all, and then gently kissed Hope on the forehead, trying to get the sleep that his body was screaming for but his mind was trying to avoid.
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
AN: OK, that was hard to write. I think I need some chocolate now, and a hug.