AN: Hi everyone. Here's another chapter.
Small time jump here, but nothing too dramatic…a couple of weeks.
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
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Daryl made his way down to the area where they were sanding boards after he'd finished butchering rabbits and, in the process, checked on the kids.
Muh was in the rabbit house giving something of an impromptu sex education lesson to Judith, Sam, and Jacob, the only three kids paying attention to her, using their ever overpopulating bunnies. Hope was supposed to be involved, theoretically, but she was far too interested in sitting on the floor and letting the rabbits scramble all over her.
They were butchering a good deal of rabbits these days, even though it seemed never to make a dent in the population, to start building up fresher stores of smoked meat while they ate through the older rations that they had. Michonne had also requested, and Daryl did pretty much whatever she asked within reason, that he butcher a rabbit for Carol to eat at least twice a day since something about the smoked meat seemed to make her violently ill and Michonne didn't think that it was prudent to replace two of her meals a day with time spent throwing up food she hadn't even eaten.
When he got to the area where they were sanding boards, Rick dismissed himself quickly to go on break and Daryl fell into working alongside Tyreese and Beau…everyone else being occupied elsewhere.
"Was down at the rabbit house…scaring up some dinner for your wife…" Daryl said to Tyreese, "and the old woman's teachin' the kids about the birds and the bees…"
He laughed.
"Hope y'all weren't plannin' on keepin' any of that shit a secret," Daryl said.
Tyreese chuckled in response and shook his head.
"I don't think that's the worst thing the kids have to learn about these days. Besides…we finally told Judith as best we could about the baby," Tyreese said.
"Oh yeah?" Daryl mused. "How'd she like the idea."
Tyreese laughed more heartily than before.
"She cried for fifteen minutes about it and then tried to convince me that we could take it out," Tyreese said. "I guess she's not as excited about Isaac as she was about Zeb."
Daryl laughed in response.
"Well…she's older now and I guess it's a whole different ballgame when it's your Ma that's having another kid," Daryl said. "Might be what spurred the trip to the rabbit house led by Muh, though…"
Tyreese hummed his agreement and they all worked in silence for a moment.
Daryl cut his eyes at Beau who was being particularly quiet…not having weighed in at all on any part of the conversation.
Beau was quiet sometimes…but he did enjoy getting in on a conversation if he had anything to contribute…so it led Daryl to think that he might be avoiding the whole thing for whatever reason.
"Lemme ask ya somethin' Beau…speakin' a rabbits…" Daryl started.
Beau visibly tensed up a little, slowing in his sanding for a moment before falling back into it with more rigor than before. He hummed that he'd heard Daryl, but didn't look up from the board he was smoothing over to be treated.
"You and Libby? Anything goin' on there?" Daryl asked.
He heard Tyreese make a noise…probably one of amusement.
The relationship between Beau and Libby was one that kept the gossip chain going in the community. They had relatively little to gossip about, given the fact that pretty much everyone lived openly and there weren't many secrets to tell, and the two kids was one of the last remaining things they had to wonder about.
They had a relationship, that much was evident…but the nature of the relationship was one that no one was entirely sure about.
"Yeah…what's going on there, Beau?" Tyreese asked. "Any spring fever?"
Beau looked at both of them like he was annoyed and that made both of them laugh.
"Reckon she's my woman, alright? That's all they is to it…" Beau responded, some bite to his voice.
It spurred more laughter from both of them because it was said with a tone that would have really deserved a "fuck you" at the end if the truth had been told.
"Ya woman how, though?" Daryl asked. "Hell, don't act like ya don't know every damn thing there is ta know about us…ain't no damn secrets around here."
"My woman in all the damn ways that matter," Beau spat back.
"So there is something going on there…" Tyreese offered with a laugh, elbowing Daryl.
"So ya over Sadie now? Done lost the shine for ya?" Daryl asked.
Beau cleared his throat and continued sanding a moment before giving any sort of response.
"I care about Sadie," Beau said. "But she's with Rick…she made her choice…an' I done made mine too…that's all they is to it an' I ain't gonna say no more," Beau said.
Another round of laughter couldn't be avoided at the frankness of the boy's comments. And they might have continued to harass the boy for a while longer, if it hadn't been for the approach of Michonne a few minutes later, holding her hands out to the side as a clear sign that she'd been treating boards and had just stopped by for a moment on her way to wash them.
"There's a lot of laughter coming from over here…" Michonne said. Daryl could tell she was obviously trying to hide a smile. "Are we working like we're supposed to?"
"Yes Mom," Daryl teased, making her face crack from the held back smile into the full on smile.
He would never stop loving that smile…and he'd never stop loving the fact that it was something he saw so often now…something that came up at even the smallest things.
"They're being assholes," Beau said.
And Daryl had to bite the inside of his mouth not to laugh at the fact that it sounded just like being ratted out by a kid…but then, Beau was a good deal younger than any of them.
Michonne dropped her smile and raised her eyebrows, pointing at Daryl and then at Tyreese with one of her dirty hands.
"Boys…behave yourselves…" Michonne said, her voice shaking a little because she was trying as hard as Daryl was to hold back the laughter. She'd have been lying if she'd tried to say that she wasn't part of the group that sat around speculating over whether or not there was actually anything romantic between Beau and Libby or if they were just, essentially, playing house with each other. "Leave Beau alone…and Beau…"
Beau snatched his head in Michonne's direction, obviously expecting her to come entirely to his rescue.
"Your voices carry, like a bunch of old women," Michonne said. "So if there's any of the rabbit house fun going in your house…you better make sure Libby's on birth control…unless you two are trying to add to the population."
Beau looked at her, his face dropping slightly.
"She's on it," he muttered just before Michonne nodded her farewell to all of them and walked off in the direction of headquarters.
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Michonne stopped at the wash bucket near the edge of the yard for the house that they used as headquarters and washed her hands. She craned her neck from side to side to crack it and loosen it up from the tightness that set in when one was assigned to doing some of the more sedentary tasks for too long.
She mounted the steps to find Sadie sitting on one side of the porch, obviously on break, holding Paul on her lap, and Mercedes sitting on the other side with her knees drawn up, her arms crossed over them, staring off as though she were less aware of her surroundings than even Sadie.
And just the presence of the girl did something to renew the uneasy feeling that Michonne had been carrying around about her…the feeling that seemed to get renewed every time she was in the girl's presence.
Michonne reached to take Paul and Sadie realized what she was doing and kissed the boy quickly before passing him to Michonne who he greeted with the childlike butchering of her name that he'd created to identify her with.
She kissed his cheek and rested him on her hip while Sadie got up, squaring herself in front her.
"They need you two to work," Michonne said, loudly enough that Mercedes could hear her but facing Sadie so that she could read her lips. "I'm on break and Rick just took off…boards need to be sealed and I think there's a space in cutting that could be filled…"
The door to the house opened and Carol came out, just as Michonne was speaking, carrying buckets and drawing Michonne's attention away from Sadie for the moment.
Carol raised an eyebrow in question at Michonne.
"I'm on break…just sending them down to work," Michonne offered.
Carol looked conflicted for a moment.
"Can I borrow them a moment longer?" Carol asked. "I just told them I needed them to go for water…unless you'd rather the two of us go?"
Michonne shook her head.
"No…that's fine…there's nothing too pressing down there right now," Michonne said.
Carol smiled and nodded her head, offering the buckets to Sadie.
Mercedes, apparently taking that as a command, got up from where she was sitting without a word to any of them and dismounted the steps, walking quickly in the direction of the gate, not waiting on Sadie to follow behind her.
As Sadie started to go around Michonne, Michonne grabbed her shoulder and Sadie turned to her raising an eyebrow in question as she offered a half smile.
"What?" Sadie asked, tipping her head.
Michonne stared at her.
"Have you gone out with her for water before?" Michonne asked, keeping her voice low since volume meant nothing to the woman anyway.
Sadie shook her head.
"Watch her…" Michonne said. "Keep your eyes open…if she tries anything…"
Michonne broke off, almost hating what she had to say, but it was something that she'd been stewing over for the past two weeks since Mercedes had first started showing out…and it was something that she was feeling more and more like she needed to say, not just to Sadie, but to a number of people.
"If she tries anything…you do what you need to do," Michonne said.
Sadie furrowed her brows, but she nodded her head, not asking for further explanation. Michonne let go of her shoulder and Sadie took the two buckets, leaving the porch and walking confidently in the direction of the gates where Mercedes was hopefully waiting on her.
When Michonne turned, she was fully expecting the confused look on Carol's face that was there and she nodded her head to send them both inside.
"Emma! Haralee! Come get Paul, please!" Michonne called through the house as soon as they were inside, figuring her voice would carry through to wherever they were…which was most likely Muh's yard. Michonne didn't speak to or look at Carol until Emma came in, all smiles, and bounded toward Michonnne, reaching her arms out to take the little boy that was more than happy to see her.
"Muh's gonna set us up a pool!" Emma declared.
Michonne smiled.
"Good…but watch the babies in it, OK? Don't leave them alone at all…not for anything…OK?" Michonne asked.
Emma nodded her head enthusiastically.
Michonne already knew the "pool" in question was only a half rotted plastic pool of the kiddie pool variety that Glenn had found in the garage of one of the houses…and she knew that Haralee and Emma were good babysitters…but it never hurt to be cautious.
And Michonne was a particularly cautious person when her hackles were raised.
When Emma had disappeared, Michonne directed her attention to Carol who was clearly not going anywhere without some sort of explanation…an explanation that Michonne had intended to give her anyway.
"What was that about? What would Mercedes try?" Carol asked, her face set in concern.
Michonne shook her head.
"I don't know for sure," Michonne said. "But the girl gives me the willies…and I've been watching her…and I've been listening to her."
Carol chuckled ironically.
"We all have," she said. "She's got quite the mouth."
Michonne shook her head. She'd only barely mentioned this thought to Daryl…and it was something she had been sitting on for a while…but she'd been reluctant to say much because she didn't want to feel like she was overreacting to nothing.
But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that very seldom in her life could she have been truly accused of overreacting at absolutely nothing…and this time there weren't even obscene amounts of hormones invading her body for people to blame it on.
This was just intuition, and she'd learned to trust it.
Michonne leaned in.
"I don't trust Mercedes…not at all," she admitted. "I thought at first it was some kind of teenage rebellion or some young person grew up in all of this so they think a little differently…"
Carol tried to laugh, tried to force herself to laugh, but came out choked and she looked concerned.
"She's just a kid," Carol said, but her voice didn't show that she believed it any more than Michonne did.
Michonne shook her head.
"She's not like Beau…or Libby…or Jimmy, Junior, Calista even…she's not like Chelsea was or Stella or Dominique…Beth…she's not like any of them," Michonne offered. "And I don't think it's just that she's the one bad apple…or maybe she is the one bad apple, but she's seemed concerned with the group and with who we have in the group."
Michonne stopped talking a moment, thinking through her earlier concerns and all the things she'd gone collecting together. She felt like, over the course of the short time that the girl had been there, she'd been using some of the analytical skills she hadn't used since she was working court cases…but she thought that maybe her past experiences as a lawyer were what were raising her concerns with the girl.
"She sounds like she's the kind that might be willing to cull out the weakest links…or who she perceives as the weakest links," Michonne said.
Carol looked almost terrified at the suggestion, and Michonne realized that while she was talking she'd taken to gripping the woman's arm harder than she intended. She dropped her grip.
"I'm going to talk to Daryl about it too," Michonne said. "I think everyone needs to be aware and they need to be on guard…just in case she really is crazy enough to try something…"
"Someone needs to talk to Lisette," Carol said, her voice hoarser than before at the thought that they may have very well come up on a person who wasn't what they wanted her to be…something they had declared to keep their eyes open for, but had almost forgotten that declaration.
Michonne nodded her head.
"I intend to do that too," Michonne said. "But I want to talk to Daryl first…find out what he thinks we should do and how we should go about things. We'll see how things go with her and Sadie, because I have a feeling that Sadie might be one of her targets…"
Carol shook her head slightly.
"They're out there alone…you think she could kill Sadie? You think she's capable of that?" Carol asked.
Michonne shook her head.
"Not if Sadie's aware…I don't think Mercedes could kill her," Michonne said. "I'm not positive there are too many people that could kill her one on one if she knew it was coming, but I don't doubt she could try."
Carol looked a little green and Michonne frowned.
"Just do me a favor…until I talk to Daryl? Just keep an eye on the kids…stay close to Muh…and keep your eyes on her. If she tries anything…remember, we don't hesitate to kill who we have to, not anymore."
Carol nodded her head.
"Yeah…I mean…of course," Carol said. "I'll keep an eye out for her."
She nodded again, definitively and Michonne mirrored the nod, there not being need for more words at the moment.
"I'm going to get something to drink," Michonne said. "And check on the kids…don't tell anyone except Ty about this, OK? Let's keep it between us. I'll talk to Daryl tonight, after dinner…or after I talk to Sadie about their run if I need to…"
Carol nodded her head again and Michonne went to get water from the pitchers filled with the clean water that were in the kitchen.
She felt better having finally come clean about her feelings…and after finally making a decision to bring the issue up to Daryl…even if she didn't like what her own thoughts were telling her.