AN: Here we go, another little chapter.
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
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They were starting to cut the trees and so far things were going well, if not very quickly. They had one chain saw to use, so each tree was being cut and then cut again to make it manageable. Tyreese, Glenn, and Daryl were doing most of the cutting, while everyone else that had been brought out was keeping watch for the rather large masses of Walkers they were drawing from every direction. In essence, they were calling up just about any Walker within hearing distance, and for that they needed everyone on their toes.
Carol, Muh, and Sadie were the only three left behind in the community. They had charge of the children and keeping going with the daily ins and outs of life. Everyone else was actually enjoying themselves, stretching their muscles and using their skills. Together even the larger number than they were accustomed to of Walkers didn't seem to daunting, and they were all commenting that the corpses seem to fall easier than they had before…almost as though their hope of them one day simply rotting away to be nothing of a threat would come true.
Michonne had made her way back to the community several times in the company of Beau, leading along Blue who was pulling back the prepared parts of the trees that they downed. In fear of overworking their best behaved animal, they were taking things slow and easy and allowing him to pull the trees back in small bundles throughout the day rather than expecting him to overdo himself.
And Michonne didn't mind the wandering back and forth. Her job, essentially, was to help Beau with any stray Walkers that they came across, most wandering toward the sound of the echoing chainsaws, and to help him unhook the tree parts from the harness that he'd made for them when they got them into the community and into the area they'd designated for working them into planks.
They walked along, slowly, sharing mostly silence and the occasional story as Michonne got to know a little more about Beau's life before all of this and shared with him the few nuggets of information that he wanted to know about her.
So they'd both come to an abrupt halt, somewhat shocked by the sight, when they came into view of the community gates on one of their last trips up and found three women standing outside…facing them…each of them wearing a fluorescent hiking bag big enough to have put a body into if one had been inclined to do so.
The first thing that struck Michonne…and likely the first thing that struck Beau…was the same thing that always struck them when they encountered someone and it was the shock of coming face to face with living people.
No matter how often you did it, it was always a bit of a jolt to be sharply reminded that there were other living people in the world.
The second thing was, clearly, that it was three women, alone and obviously calm about being that way. They stood, the three of them together, as relaxed as if they were waiting on old friends to answer their doorbell.
But the third, and the thing that struck Michonne the most when she took in the vision of the three women, was how clean they looked. As they approached, and her eyes scanned quickly over them, she realized that all three of these women looked fresh…they weren't road weary and they weren't even, like so many of their community, looking any worse for the wear for their time in the world gone mad.
The older woman, and she wasn't old by any means…maybe in her early fifties at best, was a beautiful dark skinned woman who looked as well put together as some of the women that Michonne had worked with day in and day out at the law firm. She was appropriately dressed for a hike, but could have just as easily been wearing heels and a suit and not looked out of place. The younger woman standing next to her was darker skinned than she was and she was strikingly beautiful…the kind of woman that Michonne might have clucked at in a magazine and insisted that no one with features that well-defined wasn't airbrushed.
The third woman, much lighter skinned than the other two, her hair hanging over her shoulder in a thick braid, and possibly the youngest of the three, was, perhaps, the least refined looking of the group. And she was also the one standing in something of a defensive position, less relaxed than the other two women.
Michonne saw Beau, out of the corner of her eye, slowly easing a hand down for his knife. It was a natural reaction, she was already considering making the move for her katana…just to be sure.
"Watch out…no one was even going for their weapons," the younger woman with the braid declared.
Michonne saw the glimmer that she already had a knife…suddenly…though she'd missed where it had come from. Beau stilled his movements, staring at the three women.
Apparently the older of the women decided to be something of a spokesperson because she stepped forward, seemingly unbothered by the pack she was wearing that must have weighed something.
"I'm Lisette…this is my daughter, Calista…and this is Mercedes," Lisette offered, her glance flicking back and forth between Michonne and Beau.
"I'm Michonne," Michonne offered, seeing Beau wasn't going to offer any greetings at the moment. "And this is Beau."
The tension from earlier was still there as they stood, all of them, with a little over three feet of distance between them all.
"We've been camping…about two miles from here, near the water," Lisette said. "We've seen the smoke and we thought it was just another camp. Until today, when he heard the noise…"
The chainsaw had called up Walkers from miles around, it was reasonable that it might also call up people.
"We saw this place…there are children here…" Calista said.
Michonne shot a quick glance at Beau. He'd relaxed his stance, but he wasn't looking at her. He was still watching the three women.
"We were hoping to find more people," Lisette continued. "We've met a few groups, here and there…but nothing seems to last."
"Where you from?" Beau asked.
A look flickered across Lisette's face…the look of someone who doesn't know, exactly, how to answer the question that they've just been asked.
"We come from…" Lisette started, "well…Maryland originally…but by now we've been to a number of places."
That was quite the hike, Michonne thought. Though she didn't doubt it. If they'd moved and been moving for all the time that her group had spent standing still in one location or another or even tripping over their own paths in circles, it was easy to think they might have covered that much ground.
"I'm from New York," Mercedes offered. "We met up a long time ago…"
Michonne could figure that the women hadn't just come to chat. Chances are they were wondering if they could come into the community…if they might be granted access. And, truthfully, she had no problem letting them in.
She could read pretty well. It had always been something of a gift. She didn't think that any of the three were any kind of threat…though there was something about Mercedes she wasn't sure she liked. She didn't think the woman was dangerous, or anything else, but she carried herself in such a way that she thought she might be one of those people whose attitude you tired of quickly, unless it was just some kind of front that she put on when she was meeting new people.
"Open the gates, Beau," Michonne said.
He glanced at her and she nodded gently at him. He didn't look particularly concerned either, so she imagined that he hadn't picked up on anything that she'd missed.
He dropped the reigns to Blue who didn't even seem to notice, and unlocked the gates, swinging them open.
As Beau came back, taking up the reins to guide Blue in and to the spot where they were dropping off the tree trunk pieces, Michonne caught sight of three Walkers, stumbling in a bunch toward the sound of the chainsaw echoing in the distance. She turned her attention to the three women that were still watching them.
She pulled her katana and walked over, whistling at the three Walkers to draw their attention, and just as they turned their rotting faces toward her, she let her blade slice through the three of them as smoothly as she could manage, dropping them all. She slung her blade clean, calmly returned her katana to its sheathe, and turned back to find the three women watching her with only slightly raised interest and Beau proceeding forth with Blue, completely unconcerned.
"Come on in," Michonne said as she walked past the women. "Welcome to our home."
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Michonne hadn't given the three women the option of doing much more than dropping their packs near the gate. Apparently Carol, Sadie, and Muh…obviously cooking the late meal as evidenced by the smell of food and smoke in the air, weren't aware of their visitors, and Michonne wasn't simply sending the three women over there as a shocking little surprise to the three of them and their small nursery of sorts.
She'd brought them along with her and Beau and they'd stood to the side, taking in their surroundings, probably mulling over what they'd seen of the community on the walk, and watching as she and Beau rolled the log they'd just unhooked out of the way.
"Beau," Michonne said, once they'd gotten done. "I'm going to water Blue…put him in the barn…you want me to take care of him or are you going to do it when you get back?"
Beau looked at her confused for a moment, and then he shook his head.
"I got him…we ain't goin' back out?" He asked.
Michonne let her eyes trail to the three women standing nearby.
"I think we've made enough trips for one day," she said. "You go and get the others…tell them it's almost time to eat."
Beau nodded his head and started off at a quick speed. Michonne patted Blue's back and then gathered up the reins on the docile animal, leading him toward his stall in their homemade barn.
"Are you intending on staying with us? Or are you simply visiting?" Michonne asked to any of the women who wanted to answer her as they followed behind her.
"We weren't sure when we came," Lisette offered. "We wouldn't want to impose…"
Michonne shook her head. She was already fairly certain that no one would have a problem with it. The women seemed friendly enough, and they were obviously capable to have survived this long and to appear so little damaged by their time on the road.
"You wouldn't be imposing," Michonne said. "But our community works on a strict policy of everyone pulls their weight. There are no free rides around here. We're intending to move next spring and there's a lot of preparation to be done…as well as what happens every day."
"Of course," Lisette offered. "We wouldn't expect anything different. You have a nice place here…it's clear that you must all be contributing."
"How many people are in this community?" Mercedes asked.
Michonne wrinkled her face a little at the woman's voice…maybe that was what made her seem a little abrasive…or a little slower to warm to…maybe it was her voice. Michonne straightened her face quickly, though, glad her back was to the newcomers. She didn't want to start off on the wrong foot if it could be avoided.
She shook her head.
"I'm not really sure…we haven't counted in some time," Michonne admitted.
"But you're a large group?" Calista asked.
Michonne reached the barn and excused herself long enough to take Blue into his stall and offer him some of the food that was there, rubbing her hands over his head in praise for a day's work. She checked his water, and stepped out, leaving the barn doors open for Beau and whoever joined him on his late trip down to check on the animals and get them bedded down.
"We're a fairly large group," Michonne said. "People come and they go. Have you three been on your own for long?"
"Calista and I started out with my husband and my son," Lisette offered. "When the virus broke out, we were part of a group that was going toward D.C. We heard there would be help there."
"But there wasn't?" Michonne asked.
Lisette shook her head.
"No…there were only large hoardes of the dead when we got close to the city," she said.
Lisette shrugged slightly and Michonne saw the distinct look of sadness at a memory cover her features…features that were much softer than those of her daughter, leading Michonne to imagine the girl must have taken greatly after her father.
"We didn't know what to do, so we started south because some people suggested that there was a place in Atlanta that might have control over the outbreak," Lisette continued.
"But Atlanta fell," Michonne said.
Lisette nodded.
Michonne turned her attention toward Mercedes.
"And you?" She asked.
Mercedes laughed a little, tossing her head to one side.
"Left out of the city with my brother…a couple of friends. Went looking for my mom, but…when we found her…she was already one of the creepers," Mercedes offered. "So…like them, we heard about D.C. We figured why not. I never got to D.C. though…it was too crowded."
"We ran into Mercedes not long after leaving the city," Lisette offered. "She's travelled with us since then. And…as you say…besides that, people come and they go."
Michonne nodded her head and sucked in a breath.
She forced the best smile of welcome that she could at the moment. She knew that she was making decisions for everyone, but so often they looked at her to make decisions, she supposed that they couldn't get mad at her for taking it upon herself just this once.
"Well, you're welcome to stay with us," she offered. "We have houses…you can take your pick of what's left and tomorrow we'll get you set up with the basics. For now, let's go have something to eat and you can meet everyone."
Lisette offered her a broad smile, a warm smile, and nodded her head. She offered the breathed thank you that was full of relief…the relief of being, perhaps, the matriarch of her small group for some time and finally seeing the opportunity to have some of that stress taken off her shoulders.
Calista offered her thanks too, a smile playing upon her lips, though not as broad and heartfelt as her mother's, and Mercedes offered a nod of thanks before swinging herself around a bit and changing her stance to show that she was ready to go wherever it was that they were going.
And Michonne could hear the sounds of others filling the community and knew that headquarters would be full soon, and everyone would know, from Beau, that they had visitors…visitors that might end up being friends.