AN: Here we go, another little chapter.
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
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"But you talkin' about killin' a kid, 'Chonne…" Daryl said in a tone of voice that left it up to interpretation whether he was asking a question or making a statement.
He was lying in bed, long after they should have been sleeping, and Michonne was pacing the room.
The more she'd thought about things and the more she'd given into her gut instinct, the more she was sure that she didn't care for Mercedes at all and that the girl made her uncomfortable. She'd already told Sadie to lock her doors at night…she'd told Haralee to keep the door locked…Beau and Libby…Glenn and Maggie…she'd told anyone she thought had any reason to think that Mercedes might want to cull them or any member of their household to keep their door locked, though she'd offered no explanation as to why. And surprisingly, none of them had even asked for an explanation from her.
"I'm not talking about killing a kid, Daryl," Michonne said. "I'm talking about keeping kids from getting killed…I'm talking about protecting our people…and I'm talking about putting her out of the community. I don't think she's right and it bothers me."
She'd talked to Sadie after her run with the girl, but Sadie had nothing to report. She said that the girl didn't talk to her…there was no surprise there because Mercedes very clearly made it known that she didn't think Sadie had the intelligence to communicate with…and that she'd kept the point of advantage by keeping Mercedes always in front of her…always in her line of vision. So with that in mind, it wouldn't have been an opportune time for Mercedes to have tried anything.
"You talkin' about puttin' a twenty year old girl…if she's even that old…out there on her own, that's damn near killin' her. Hell, might even be more humane just to shoot her ass," Daryl declared.
Michonne shook her head at him.
"I'd rather know she was out there than know she's in here. If she's crazy…I don't want her here. I don't want her around our children…I don't want her around my family…my friends. I just don't want her here," Michonne said.
And she rejected the feeling that came over her suggesting that she might be talking like a mad person. She rejected it because she knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that if she were truly the mad one in the scenario that she would have never stopped to consider her own sanity.
Daryl shifted around, sitting up from his position.
"What about Lisette? Calista? Ya reckon they just gonna let her go…like see ya ass later, thanks for comin' with us this damn far?" Daryl asked.
Michonne rested her hands on her hips and shrugged slightly.
"I don't care…I'm going to talk to them…but I don't care," Michonne declared. "Have you watched them with her? They act like they're nervous around her…like they're scared of her. They're not close. And they've travelled, from what they say, since this whole thing started…but they're not with her like any of us are with each other…even with the people we haven't known that long…"
Daryl's face was twisted up with trying to take in all the information that Michonne was throwing at him and she was trying to keep from holding it against him because she'd had much longer to process this than he had. She'd had a lot more time to consider everything than he was being given at the moment when she was flinging it at him before bedtime.
"Maybe she just don't warm up…took you a pretty time to warm up…" Daryl offered.
Michonne chuckled ironically, tossing her head back and attempting to remind herself that he was being Daryl…he was playing the devil's advocate…he was making sure that they thought this through…but she'd already considered it from every angle.
"Daryl…I'm not psychotic. It took me a while to warm up…it took you a while to warm up…it takes everyone these days a while to warm up, but that's not what I get from her," Michonne said.
She crossed the room, stilling her pacing for a moment and sat down on the edge of the bed where she would likely remain very little time before getting up to pace again.
"She's dehumanizing everyone…everyone that she considers…" Michonne paused and shook her head, considering her words. "Everyone she considers the less thans or the weaker links or whatever it is that's going on in her head. She's dehumanizing them…when you talk to her and when she talks about them? They're descriptions…they're characteristics…mostly negative ones or ones that she says in a negative way…and that's dehumanizing. And if history is a good teacher, the moment you start to truly dehumanize someone or a group of people, that's the moment when you think it's OK to do whatever you want to them."
"If she goes out there alone, ya know she's gonna die…" Daryl said.
Michonne shook her head.
"Not necessarily…I was out there alone. Beau…he was out there alone. Libby was out there alone with three people to take care of," Michonne rationalized. "She says she doesn't need anyone anyway, so I say give her that wish if that's what she wants. "Hell, even Muh was out there alone…Jeremiah said he found her and Haralee walking alongside the road, didn't he?"
Daryl chuckled.
"Yeah…but'cha done figured out that can't nobody kill Muh," Daryl said.
Michonne frowned. Even though she recognized he was just trying to bring some levity to the situation, she wasn't much in the mood for levity at the moment.
"Daryl…if this girl or woman or whatever you want to call her…if Mercedes is what I think she is…then one of these days she's going to snap and she's going to try to kill someone. And our only hope is that she tries to kill someone that she can't kill. Because if she so much as looks at one of my children? I'm going to kill her right then and there and I don't care if it's over the breakfast table with everyone watching…" Michonne said, driving her hand down against the bed to drive her point home.
The expression that crossed Daryl's face said that he realized, in that moment, the full impact of how she felt about this and the full impact of what she was saying. She wasn't crazy and she wasn't playing around with him.
She sincerely believed that Mercedes wasn't stable and she sincerely believed that the girl would make her move, sooner or later, to get rid of the people that she'd tagged. And her children were among that list of people that the girl thought were essentially useless to their group and therefore somehow "extras" that they had no business keeping around.
"I ain't lettin' her fuck with the kids, 'Chonne," Daryl declared. He shook his head at her, the gravity of the situation registering more clearly on his face now. "Wouldn't nobody let that happen…"
"Daryl, we have worked so hard to build this community," Michonne said. "We have all worked so hard to have the peace that we have here…and there's not that much peace left in the world. It's not fair to ask everyone to be on their guard the whole time against this. And when we get on the road? It's hard enough to watch your back against Walkers twenty four seven without having a serial killer sleeping in the same space."
"You're really serious about this, no kidding at all?" Daryl asked.
Michonne shook her head.
"I'm not kidding at all, Daryl," Michonne said. "I haven't wanted to say anything because I thought it was just overreacting or that it was too far-fetched, but I really think this girl could be dangerous…and I don't like the idea of having her anywhere around my children…and I don't like the idea of who else she might go after."
She stopped a moment and decided to go further into it. Because she had a little bit of guilt, whether it was justified or not, over the whole situation.
"I brought her in here, Daryl," Michonne said. "I looked at her and thought that she looked normal and sane and we've been really pretty lucky with people…we've been really pretty lucky at not finding a lot of crazy people out there in a world that's bound to drive people mad. And I brought her in here…and if she hurt anyone…anyone at all…I'd feel guilty for it. It would be on my conscience that I brought her in here and I put the people that I care about at danger."
Michonne felt her throat tighten and catch just a little at the thought of it. She'd had the same thoughts over and over…she'd turned them over in her head and they'd become something that she'd considered every time she looked at the girl…so much so that she'd had dreams about things that Mercedes might do.
And she knew that Lisette and Calista, for all the time they'd spent with her, seemed distant and removed from Mercedes. They lived together and they'd come into the community together, but really they kept their distance from her on a regular basis.
She knew that Carol didn't care for the girl, though it may have simply been because of the way that she treated her…and she knew that Muh didn't like her at all…so much so that the old woman had actually been overheard hissing, or something close to it, when she passed near her. And Sadie didn't care for her either…but that too would be expected from the treatment that she received from the girl.
In fact, no one seemed particularly enamored of her, but they went about their lives like they always had and tried to make peace with her. They tried to simply accept her as someone that was part of their group with whom they may not have any strong bond.
They all tried to dismiss it as she was young and she had a bad attitude. That was all. She was young and the world was hard and it had hit her, perhaps, with a particularly difficult hardness and she was suffering from that. And maybe, just maybe, she'd grow out of it and with time she'd come to find herself a part of the community and a valued member of the group.
But Michonne didn't believe that, and she felt like if the truth were told without fear of judgment, there wasn't anyone else who believed it either. Not deep down.
"Michonne, if she did anything…it wouldn't be your fault," Daryl said. "It ain't your job to read the damn minds of every damn person we come across…"
Michonne shook her head.
"That's not the point, Daryl," Michonne said. "Whether or not it was really my fault…I'd still feel guilty for it and I don't want that on my mind. If we lose people…out there or in here or wherever we go in the future…because of Walkers or because something happens, that's one thing, but I don't want to lose people because we let a crazy person come into our midst and we let it go unchecked."
She could tell that he was a little tangled up in his thoughts about the whole thing and she pressed on a bit.
"We made the decision a long time ago…when that nut job of a man came in here…that if anyone got our guard up, we'd handle it. We made that decision and thank goodness, until now, we haven't had to put it into practice, but I'm telling you that my guard is up…and I want this at least discussed," Michonne said.
Daryl nodded his head and sat there in silence, obviously thinking. Michonne guarded the silence, giving him time to process things. Finally, he spoke to her again.
"You figure out who the hell ya think she might be after," Daryl said. "Talk to Lisette…but just talk to her about the girl…what she thinks of her…don't tell her we thinkin' about puttin' her ass out or nothin', not yet. Tomorrow you tell me who the hell we need to call together and we'll talk it over with them that's involved the most…the ones at risk. That way we don't tip her off and start no shit show if she is bat ass crazy. Then we'll figure out what they want to do, how they want to handle it."
Michonne sucked in a breath and nodded her head.
"If people ain't comfortable with her," Daryl said. "If you think she's like this and she's driving you crazy…then we ask her to leave. If that's what the hell they want…we ask her to leave."
He shook his head at her, his face completely serious now.
"I ain't having her fuck with anybody around here if we can help it and I ain't having you feel guilty about shit you ain't got no control over. We'll ask her to get the fuck out if we gotta," Daryl added. "Any damn body wants to go with her can go…"
Michonne nodded her head, feeling relieved that he was on board with her…feeling relieved that he wasn't accusing her of being the crazy one, and feeling relieved that things would at least be discussed and would, most likely, be dealt with.
"And if she doesn't want to leave?" Michonne asked. "If she puts up a fight?"
Daryl shook his head slightly.
"Then we do what the hell we gotta do, that's all they is to it…" Daryl said. "We do what the hell we gotta do."