"Do you know where that's at, 'Chonne?" Daryl asked.
They had pulled everyone together to tell them about the location they'd found where they suspected the other group might be hiding.
"I know where that is, Daryl. If you'd gone up a piece from here to the main road and followed it, straight across, you would end up close to that school. That little wooded area should come out not too far from the main road out there," Michonne said, gesturing as though they were outside instead of in headquarters. Daryl was entertaining Hope and Michonne was scribbling notes again for Sadie.
"Do you think me an' Sadie could get there by goin' through the woods? That would keep us hid pretty good 'til we got there." Beau said.
Michonne shrugged. "I think you could do that."
"So we go tomorrow?" Sadie asked after a moment.
"Are you sure you wanna go in there alone?" Daryl asked. "I mean we couldn't see nothin', you'd be goin' in there blind."
Sadie read the message, then nodded.
"Someone has to do it. I need to get to our friends, and I will be able to tell you where everybody is. Beau will keep watch. He'll let you know if I don't come back," she responded.
"Well alright then," Daryl said, pausing to bite the skin at his thumb and regard the woman. "You got some set a' balls."
Sadie didn't respond, just laughed at him.
"Make sure ya take whatever ya want, and Beau you better have a good back up plan 'fore ya head out there. You might not have much time for figurin' it out later," Daryl said.
As far as he could see, there was nothing left to be discussed for the time being. Sadie and Beau would go to the community the next day as things continued around here in preparation for the upcoming attack. Daryl figured at this point there was nothing left but for everyone to go to bed and get some rest.
He dismissed the group and watched as everyone headed off in their directions.
Daryl caught Michonne around the waist and pulled her to him in a kiss, Hope laughing between them as her mother closed in on them. Michonne smiled at her and plucked her out of Daryl's arms.
"You reckon Sadie's gonna be able ta pull this off tomorrow?" Daryl asked Michonne as they headed toward their house, relieved for the moment that he didn't have to worry about where the woman was since she wouldn't hear his concern anyway.
"I don't know, Daryl," Michonne said. She was honestly a little concerned simply because there was so much that they didn't know about the location. "I guess she's got about as good a chance as anyone of pulling it off, though. She's not nearly as helpless as the majority of people in this group, even if she does have the disadvantage of not being able to hear."
"Yeah," Daryl said, "Carol told me about y'all's little trainin' plan today."
"Are you mad, Daryl?" Michonne asked.
"Nah, 'Chonne, I ain't mad if you're careful, but I will be mad if'n I hear tell of you goin' out them gates, so don't think you can slip that past me," Daryl responded.
Michonne smiled to herself.
"Deal, Daryl. I'll stay inside the gates," she said.
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Beau walked through the woods silently with Sadie following only a few steps behind. He was fairly confident about the direction they were travelling, but wasn't entirely sure that everything was going to go well. Sadie carried three different weapons, her knife at one thigh, her machete at the other, and she was also carrying a handgun that Rick had loaned her. In her pocket she'd tucked some wire cutters, intending on making her own entrance into the enemy camp.
Beau didn't speak to her, and she didn't speak to him.
When they finally reached the break in the woods, the middle school was across the street from them. They both regarded it for a moment. There were two men wandering around, as they had been before. Beau wasn't sure if they were the same two men or not. There was still no other sign of life except the few Walkers that crowded at the fences like at their camp. Sadie and Beau stayed just behind the tree line of the wooded area, both planning their next moves.
"OK," Sadie said.
Beau put his finger to her mouth. She was speaking too loudly.
She nodded, and mouthed that she was going. Beau whispered "Good luck" to her just before she took off in a trot. Keeping low.
Beau scurried up the closest tree that had a good lookout branch and picked up the binoculars he'd gotten from Rick, trying to keep a watch simultaneously on Sadie and on the two men sauntering around in the yard.
Sadie was keeping low, which was good, but Beau was uncomfortable that she was still going to draw the attention of the guards. Beau watched both of them carefully. There was no cover at all for the woman, she was basically running, looking for a good place to get in, and hoping that they didn't notice her.
Beau saw one of the men start in the direction of the fence where he would clearly see Sadie. Beau wasn't sure what to do. He couldn't signal her in any way. She was on her own out there. Finally he decided that it was time to employ his distraction strategy, hoping that it worked.
Near the fence, away from the direction that Sadie was travelling in, there was some kind of collection of wood and whatnot. Beau had noticed it when he and Daryl had been there. He reached in his quiver and pulled out one of the arrows that he'd prepared for a diversion. He held himself tight to the limb with his thighs and fumbled in his pocket, pulling out the lighter he'd put there. He struck it and lit the fuel soaked rag that was balled up and secured around the end of the arrow. He loaded it quickly, surprised at the heat from the flames, and silently prayed that the arrow made its mark. He aimed and let go.
The arrow did make its mark, and though it didn't immediately catch the attention of the guards, it was only a moment later before a flicker of a flame and some smoke from the woodpile began to trail out, drawing them both to examine how their supply had suddenly combusted.
Beau lifted the binoculars and searched for Sadie, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen. He panicked a little for a moment and then searched the fence. There was a small hole, on the far side, that she'd apparently cut. He could do nothing now but be patient, assume that she was inside, and try to gauge how long she should be in there before he assumed that something had happened.
He turned his attention back to the guards, hoping that Sadie wasn't having any difficulty inside the walls.
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Without Sadie to collect the Walkers for her, and not trusting anyone else to repeat the same steps that Sadie had taken, Michonne had ruled out Walker training for the day. Rick had taken some people to work on target training, and Michonne decided that she would spend the day with Carol, helping her with whatever she needed help with.
She'd gone looking for Carol, but all she had found was Carl, apparently on babysitting duty.
"Where's Beth?" Michonne asked. She put Hope down with Judith and reached down to rub Judith's head.
"Dad said she needed to practice," Carl said. "I didn't need to practice. I'm real good with the bow now, too. Beau said that Daryl will take me out soon, hunting."
Michonne smiled at Carl.
"He might, you know, we can always use more hunters in this group," she said. Carl smiled back at her. "Where's Carol?" She asked after a minute.
"She went down to the fields," Carl said. He was sitting in one of the chairs that Carol kept outside for when she was working out there, just a little bit away from the girls' playpen, and he was scraping at something with a knife.
"What are you doing?" Michonne asked.
"I'm making arrows," Carl said. "Beau showed me how and said he might need a few more today because he won't be able to retrieve the ones he uses to keep Sadie out of trouble. I'm going to surprise him with some when he gets back."
Michonne smiled again.
"You like Beau?" She asked.
Carl nodded. "Beau knows a lot of things, and he tells me all the time that I'm like his little brother. Beau doesn't treat me like I'm a kid, you know? I'm not a kid anymore, and he knows that."
"No, you're not a kid," Michonne said. "Are you OK with the girls while I help Carol?"
"Sure, they're no problem," Carl said.
"Fine," Michonne said, "you know where to find us if you need anything."
She spun around and headed toward the fields, leaving Carl to the entertainment of his whittling and the sounds of the squealing girls.
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Michonne found Carol watering plants and she fell in to help her.
"When you go back over, have a look in the bucket," Carol said.
Michonne finished her watering can and walked back toward the wheelbarrow to fill it. She stopped, peaking in the bucket. In there was an assortment of the things they were nurturing, mostly small, barely enough to feed three of them, but it was still a promise, and she understood why Carol was smiling about it. Somehow the promise of the food was enough to push out of her mind right now that Beau and Sadie were out there, and that there was a chance that at least one of them, if not both, wasn't coming back.
Michonne tipped one of the buckets of water to fill her watering can, ready to join Carol again.
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Beau felt like he'd been sitting up there forever, scanning the school in front of him for some sign of Sadie. His guards had provided him with a little entertainment. They hadn't gone for help in the situation of the small fire that they'd encountered. Instead they'd examined it stupidly for a bit, the fire growing while they failed to react. Then they'd finally decided to scatter the wood and put out the flames.
Beau thought they had found his arrow because they'd spent the rest of the time patrolling, but they were patrolling in that area, looking for some sign of intruders, completely unaware that their intruder had entered on the far side.
Finally Beau spotted Sadie, running toward her hole a little awkwardly. He hoped she hadn't been injured, but he really couldn't tell what was wrong with her at the moment.
He turned his attention back to the guards. Apparently alerted by something, one of them was starting to make their way more in the direction where they would spot Sadie. Beau turned his attention briefly back to her and she was squirming through her hole with some difficulty.
The guard was going to see her, Beau knew that much. He turned his attention back to the guard and when the man made a move for the gun he carried, Beau yanked an arrow out of his quiver.
Beau made a quick prayer, the only kind he knew how to make these days, pleading that just this once he could be the marksman that he prided himself on being. He loaded the arrow, aimed, and released it.
"I'll give up eatin' for a week if I can make this," he'd whispered as he'd let the arrow fly, not sure if the distance and angle was going to keep him from attaining his goal.
The man went down, and Beau whispered a thank you into the air. He looked back, not picking up his binoculars this time and noticed Sadie, hunched and running, one arm tight against her chest and the other wielding her machete and trying to fight off the Walkers that had noticed her, even if the guards had not.
A shot rang out and Beau turned his attention back to the second man. Apparently alarmed by the loss of his partner, the guard was firing into the wooded area. They were wild shots, since he didn't know where the arrow had come from.
That's right, asshole, keep waistin' ya bullets. Beau thought.
Apparently the guard noticed Sadie then and fired twice in her direction. She still wasn't clear of the wooded area, the Walkers having slowed her down. Beau loaded his bow again, and aimed at the second guard, knowing it was a long shot because of the distance.
The arrow missed its mark, but it did catch the attention of the guard and he started firing haphazardly into the woods, in the direction from which the arrow had come.
Beau knew the gun would run out of bullets soon, but he would also run out of arrows. Sadie was only feet from the wooded area, though, where she could take cover and not be an exposed target. She was running without looking back, unaware of the shots fired behind her, and hopefully not hit.
Beau lit another of the fuel soaked arrows and let it fly in the direction of the second guard.
I'll burn the fuckin' place down if I can, Beau thought.
When Sadie had finally made it into the wooded area, Beau looked down. She kept running, not stopping for him, and he couldn't blame her. She would want to be well buried in the brush before she stopped. He got up and followed her, through the branches around him, until she finally came to a stop. He dropped beside her and she screamed a little, but he lunged out and put his hand over her mouth in a quick movement.
"Just me," he said, staring at her. "Just me."
She stopped making noise after a minute and Beau assessed her. In one arm she had a bundle, and she immediately began ripping at her shirt.
"What are you doing?" Beau asked. Sadie didn't respond. Beau found her very difficult to get information from. Then she revealed that the bundle she had actually contained a small baby. She ripped open her shirt finally and pushed the baby at her breast. Beau tried to look away, but she seemed completely unmoved by the fact that she was topless in front of him. He looked at her ripped shirt and realized there was a decent amount of blood there. "You hit? You OK? Why you bleedin'?" Beau asked. Sadie looked at him, but didn't say anything. She just continued on at this point in the direction of the community.
Beau followed behind her, his arrow in hand, keeping watch for Walkers. Sadie killed one, and he took down another two, before they were finally in sight of their own safe fences. Beau breathed a sigh of relief when he was able to see the gates and see Maggie and Glenn pulling them open.
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"Get Carol!" Beau called as he was running toward the gates a few steps behind Sadie who was also at a full jog.
Glenn and Maggie swung open the gates, quickly trying to clear the area of Walkers. Carl trotted off to alert Carol and Michonne that Sadie and Beau were returning and apparently needed help.
Once they were inside and the gates were shut, both Sadie and Beau stopped, gasping for air. Sadie went straight to headquarters and Beau tagged behind her, aware that Carol was running toward them with Michonne and Carl just behind her.
"Maggie, help please," Carol called out as she jogged past and toward headquarters.
Once in the kitchen, everyone was trying to figure out what was going on. Michonne watched as Beau grabbed Sadie roughly by the arm.
"Sit," he commanded, shoving her at a chair. Carol had already started over to find out what they were dealing with. Sadie hissed at Beau's action and it caught Michonne's nerves for a moment.
Michonne didn't really know why she did it, but she immediately reached out and grabbed Beau roughly.
"How about you sit down?" She barked, shoving him. Beau tumbled backward, losing his footing and landing with a thud on the floor.
"What the hell'd ya do that for?" He asked.
The noise had drawn Carol's attention and Sadie had swung around to look at him as well, following Carol's lead.
"She's not a dog, Beau. She's an intelligent woman and people around here need to stop grabbing her and shoving her. You could have just asked her to sit," Michonne growled, turning her attention to Sadie.
Beau sat quietly and watched the women. He hadn't meant to infer that Sadie was a dog or anything of the sort, but he hadn't had much luck in talking to her. Michonne was moody sometimes, though, so he could chalk it up to that. Regardless of the situation, he knew better than to respond in any way. Daryl was fiercely protective of Michonne and Beau didn't fancy much the idea of irritating Daryl.
Carol had discovered that Sadie was holding a very small baby, and it was suckling her.
"Sadie, where did you get the baby?" Carol asked, moving Sadie's face to look at her.
"Katie," Sadie responded. She was still trying to get her breath completely.
"Is it Katie's baby?" Carol asked.
Sadie shook her head.
"Mine. Katie didn't make it. They gave it to me," she said.
"I've got to get her shirt off and find out where the blood is coming from," Carol said.
Michonne moved to take the baby and Sadie protested.
"Sadie, I'm not going to take your baby," Michonne said. "Carol just wants to look at you and you can have…" she paused a moment examining the infant, "him back," she finished.
Carol peeled Sadie's shirt off.
"It's cuts or scratches," Carol said. "They look clean, so it looks more like cuts."
"Sadie, where did the scratches come from?" Michonne asked.
"The fence," Sadie explained.
"No Walkers?" Michonne asked.
Sadie shook her head.
"Not a problem," Carol said. "I can clean these. Maggie, I need alcohol and bandages," she commanded. Maggie nodded and went to get them.
"Carol's going to clean up your cuts," Michonne said.
The baby had begun to wail and Michonne was trying to quiet it.
"He's hungry," Sadie said. "I still have milk, but I don't know how much."
"We've got some formula," Michonne said, "and I make a lot of milk. He'll be fine until your supply builds back up. Can I take him to feed him until Carol gets you cleaned up?"
Sadie nodded and Michonne took the baby to the kitchen to get him some food. She judged the infant to only be a few weeks old at best, and she was fairly certain, then, what may have happened to Katie.
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When Sadie's wounds were cleaned and bandaged, Michonne gently returned the now sleeping infant to her arms.
"Was Katie a friend of yours?" She asked. Something in Sadie's eyes looked different.
"She was my brother's…" Sadie paused, "girlfriend in the group. She was pregnant when they took them."
"So the baby is your nephew?" Michonne asked.
Sadie shrugged.
"Don't know," she said. She touched the baby's cheek. "Doesn't matter."
Michonne nodded, understanding what she was saying.
"Do you have a name for him?" She asked.
"Paul," Sadie said. "My brother's name."
"Is he deaf?" Carol asked. Michonne repeated the question to Sadie.
"Don't know," Sadie said after a minute. "My brother wasn't."
"It doesn't matter," Michonne said after a second and Sadie smiled at her.
"And you're still producing milk?" Carol asked. Michonne repeated the question to Sadie and Sadie turned to Carol.
"My youngest was the last that was with me," she explained. "It's easier to keep them safe when they are smaller."
Carol and Michonne both looked at each other, but neither spoke. Sadie was calm about the statement, so they let it be.
"You need some rest," Michonne said. "Let me help you and Paul back to your house. Carol will find Mark to help you and I'll send Maggie after a crib."
Sadie looked exhausted. She raised her hand and gestured a thank you to Michonne and let her help her back to her house and right up to her bed. Michonne helped her get undressed and in bed, the baby sleeping beside her. Michonne had no idea how Sadie would handle a baby if she couldn't hear it cry, but since the woman had raised five children, at least until the end of the world and a little after, she figured that Sadie must have her secrets. She left her resting and went back to join Carol.
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Daryl had resisted disturbing Sadie while she was resting, but he was anxious to know what she had found out about the other group. Beau's reports were only outsider reports. She was the one that would have the most information. He'd nearly gone crazy pacing the parameters of their fences, checking for problems he knew weren't there, waiting for dinner when she'd come and he could announce a meeting.
"There are three left from our group," Sadie explained, holding the baby and reading questions over Michonne's shoulders, not used to having everyone's attention. "Three women," she continued. "They said the others had been traded."
"Traded? What'cha mean?" Daryl asked.
Sadie read his question and shrugged.
"Don't know. That's all they said. There are two others there, a man and a woman, from another group. They aren't happy there. They want to leave. They'll fight with us," Sadie said.
"How many people do they have?" Daryl asked.
"They're down one," Beau said.
Sadie read the question.
"Don't know. They didn't know. If you're part of their group you do watches, if you're not, you spend all your time in the classrooms for your group. The three that are left said that they weren't let out because they tried to get away. That's why the other two people from the other group are with them," Sadie said.
"How did you find them?" Rick asked.
"I went door to door. The others I saw thought I was lost. I pretended to be dumb, and they didn't ask questions," she explained, shrugging a little.
"So it's a high traffic group," Rick offered. "Lots of people in, lots out apparently."
"'Lots' can be relative these days," Maggie offered.
"I told them three days," Sadie continued. "That morning they're going to mark themselves. They're going to tie pieces of…" she paused, "flags around their arms. That's how we know they'll fight for us."
"So we kill everyone else?" Daryl asked.
Sadie shrugged again.
"We don't have a choice," Tyreese offered. "This is a group that doesn't play by our rules. We wouldn't ever keep anyone prisoner here, and we certainly wouldn't trade our people, whatever that means. We have to get rid of this group."
"It seems so horrible," Glenn said, "to just go in and kill everyone when they haven't even bothered us yet."
"That 'yet', my friend, is the key word," Tyreese said. "We have to get them before they get us."
"He's right," Rick said. "They are the kind of people we don't need around here anymore. With the world the way it is, the last thing we need is to let people like that continue living in our own backyard. It's just a matter of time before they come here, so we might as well take care of it before we suffer more casualties than we might suffer facing them in battle."
Daryl nodded. He understood that Glenn didn't like the idea, because he didn't like it either, but he also understood the argument that this was the only course of action they had.
"We got three days," he said. "Everybody better get ready."
Daryl dismissed the group and went home with Michonne. Snuggled against her that night, his hand resting on her belly, he felt the same way he had when he'd known the Governor was coming and it was just a matter of time.