Chapter 5:
Michonne had planned to refuse food again on her second day of captivity, but hunger and weakness eventually got the best of her. She only ate the fruits given to her, and hoped it would tide her over until she was either released or found a way to escape.
The person guarding her cell was sat reading a thick book, and he would glance up at her occasionally. The way he spoke suggested to her that he was probably quite intelligent, but socially inept.
She stood up and walked over to the bars when nature called, "Bathroom".
The man looked up at her, "I have not been permitted to allow you access to any facilities without the presence of someone skilled with a firearm"
She stared at him for a few moments, before guessing, "You're not allowed to let me out?"
"Affirmative", He gave her a single nod.
She winced at him, "I've been allowed to use the bathroom before?"
"They were all skilled with firearms. I am not"
She rolled her eyes, "Can you get someone that is?"
"Negative. I've been informed to only leave my perch in the event of your escape or to be relieved of my duty"
She stared at him again, then pulled down her zip on the front of her leather pants, "Fine, I'll just go right here-"
"I'll get someone", The man stood quite quickly and headed to the front door.
She was glad, because it was a bluff she wasn't actually prepared to follow through on. She was pacing her cell when she heard the front door open again, and she was surprised he had found someone so soon, but found she was mistaken.
A young boy stood staring at her from the other side of the bars. Her eyes darted around for a moment, before landing back on her.
"You're a Savior?", It didn't sound like a question any more than it sounded like a quote.
She folded her arms over her chest as she studied him.
He shifted his weight to his other foot, "I'm not going to hurt you"
She raised her eyebrows at him, impressed that he saw himself as a match, "Thank god".
He squinted at her, "So you work with Negan?"
She rolled her shoulders as she began to pace again, "What do you want, kid?"
"I'm not a kid", He rebuffed, insulted.
"Fine, what do you want adolescent?"
"Do you work with him?"
She pursed her lips, "Something like that"
He frowned, her answer leading him to another assumption, "Is he your boyfriend?"
She came to a screeching halt as she turned to look at him.
He eyed her, waiting for her answer.
"No", She tilted her head at him, "Now what do you want?"
"You can stop him then? Right?"
She stared at him, "Excuse me?"
He looked towards the door as footsteps approached, then the door opened.
"Carl? What are you doing here? Your dad will flip if he hears about this", the woman she knew to be Sasha appeared as she reprimanded the teen, "Go on, out"
Michonne wondered who his father was, and if it could be Rick. She didn't wonder for too long as she figured it must be, as they did bare a resemblance. She soon regretted being interrupted, as she could have gotten some information from him too.
Sasha opened the cell door and lead her out the basement with a rifle only inches away from her back. Michonne's eyes roamed the street as she emerged from the stairs, the sun peeking out from behind the clouds. Residents were scattered around, preparing for their day, and the few that spotted her stopped and glared.
Sasha led her to the main home, where the bathroom windows also had bars on it. She wished they would at least allow her to take a shower, as the one in the bathroom was considerably nicer than the one she had at home.
Once she relieved herself she was met by the end of Sasha's rifle again, and led back out the home. She raised a questioning eyebrow when she saw Rick stood at the bottom of the stairs that led to the basement. Naturally she would have thanked him for helping her with her shoulder, but given the circumstances, she figured it was the least he could do.
She walked right back into her cell while he and Sasha had a discreet conversation while looking her in. Rick glanced at her a few times, and so did Sasha, making her feel like some sort of spectacle, so she turned her back on them.
A few more moments passed before she heard heavy footsteps walk back out the door. She didn't need to see the person to know it was Rick, as she'd all but memorised her captors step pattern. He stomped, his feet would hit the floor forcefully, and usually at a quickened pace. She wondered if that was how he usually carried himself or if it was due to the stress of running a community during such a difficult time. She soon rid the man from her thoughts all together.
Her morning in the cell went by painfully slow and she hated it, as she hated feeling restless. She could barely see anything out of the window provided, besides people's feet on the street outside. She did notice an increase in foot passage, but other than that, she had nothing to do. She thought of her Katana and where it could be, but it just made her angry that Rick had taken it from her.
She was drifting off to sleep when she heard a loud crash that made her jump. She sat up, trying to listen out to anything further, when all she could hear were approaching footsteps, then the front door flew open.
"Come on! Quick!"
"What? What about her?"
"She's locked in, come on we have to get to the front gate!"
The man quickly jumped up and left his seat, running out the door and slamming it behind him. Michonne sat up, wincing as she wondered what she had just heard, as well as what was happening. She climbed off the mattress and tried to look through the window again, but all she could see was feet running past the home.
She paced her cell as she tried to listen out for something else, but nothing. She tried not to let her imagination run wild, and instead figured they may have run into one too many corpses. She found slight comfort in knowing she was locked away from it all, but she would still be in an undesirable position if it were the case.
When the door opened again she tore herself from her thoughts to see who it was. She frowned when she saw it was the teen boy again.
"What happened?", She asked, looking him from head to toe.
"He's here for you", the teen took out a set of keys and put them in the door, then shoving it open.
She eyed him suspiciously, then realised who she meant. She stalked over to the door, and the boy picked something up from the wall and handed it to her. It was her sheathed katana, and she had never been happier to see it. She took it and gave the boy a single nod, before sprinting out the front door.
She wished she could have stopped to ask him why he freed her, but she had a bone to pick with Negan. Her anger towards him had just been put aside until she saw him again.
"Stop right there!"
Michonne slowed to a stop, looking over her shoulder at the blonde woman who had a small pistol pointing in her direction.
"You're the one he's looking for right?", She questioned, her hand trembling slightly.
Michonne looked her from head to toe, not sure what the housewife wanted from her.
"Rick told him you're not here, so I suggest you get back to where you were", the woman motioned up the street with the gun.
Her eyebrow shot up, "It'll be safer for you all if I leave unharmed"
The woman's dark brows furrowed, "But Rick said-"
"Jessie!", Carl hissed the woman's name as he approached them both, "What are you doing?"
Jessie shook her head at the teen, "Your dad said she's not here and you shouldn't be out here either-"
"She has to go or else this place will end up like the Hilltop", Carl stepped closer to her cautiously, "My dad doesn't know what he's doing"
"He does", Jessie insisted, "If we keep her-"
"Then we're all dead"
Jessie looked at Carl with wide, timid eyes, that darted back to Michonne. She seemed to be battling with herself, as the gun lowered ever so slowly back down to the ground.
Michonne watched the exchange curiously, before continuing on her with her exit. She was glad the teenager was there to talk the woman out of her poor choice, as Michonne didn't want to have to kill her to leave. She preferred not to kill anyone if she didn't have to, but if it came down to it, she would.
The town was easy enough to navigate, and she soon found herself on the street that led to the entrance.
The front gate was on the ground, and beneath the wheels of an eighteen wheeler truck. Negan walked around in front of it, while the Savior's where sprinkled everywhere, holding their guns to the heads of the residents. She could tell that Negan was probably giving some sort of twisted speech on why he was going to kill them.
"Hey Negan! Look!"
Negan looked in the direction where the young Savior had pointed, and a big smile began to spread on his face, "Is that my 'Chonne? Is that my fucking 'Chonne?"
She snaked her way through the people stood and kneeled around her. As mad as she was, she was glad to see him. He was the closest thing she had to family, and she felt relieved to see a familiar face.
"Where the hell were you?", Negan asked when she was close enough.
"Let's go", She insisted, her eyes darting to Rick, who was stood behind Negan, holding Lucille in both hands, with guns pointing at him from all directions.
Negan too, looked back at the leader, "You said she wasn't fucking-"
Michonne grabbed his arm, "Now."
He frowned at her in disbelief.
She looked right back at him with dark, serious eyes.
Negan shook his head, "If one of these fuckers hurt you, I'd rather beat the shit out of 'em now"
"Do I look hurt? I'm perfectly fine, so let's go", She reinforced in a more biting tone.
He looked over his shoulder at Rick, then over the residents as he held his hand out. Rick looked like he wanted to beat him with the bat as he handed it back.
"Well, looks like you fuckwits got lucky, huh?", Negan sighed as he rested his bat on his shoulder, "I hope I won't have to come back here any time soon"
Michonne glanced at Rick, who was looking right at her. She straightened up as she stepped past Negan and walked alongside the truck, out of the safe zone.
She knew Negan was dying to know what had happened, and the truth was, she was unsure of what she would tell him. It all depended on how he answered her own questions about how he's conducted himself behind her back.
"I'm driving this one. Get in", She instructed as she walked down to the furthest vehicle at the end of the line-up.
Negan's head jerked back at the request, though he still got in, "What the hell is going on?"
She started the car as soon as his door closed, reversing to turn the car around, "Remember when you told me we'd be trading with other groups? How you said it would be a good way for us to establish contact with others?"
He eyed her, his brow furrowing, "Yeah…"
"When did that all change? When did you decide it would be easier to kill people and take their stuff-"
"Alright, alright", He held his hands up as he sighed, "How'd you find out? One of those little fuckers in there tell you?"
"The fact that I even found out anything is the problem Negan!", She breathed through a clenched jaw, "You've been lying about this whole thing for months! All those times I saw them loading up the truck- where the boxes empty or something? Would you all wait until I left to laugh at me?"
"No, Michonne. I wasn't fucking laughing at you-", He insisted sternly.
"Then what? You put on this huge production! No wonder you were so quick to kill Gregory when I went with you! You didn't want him to blow your cover! You went above and beyond to lie to me, and you're meant to be the one person I can trust!"
"Do you want me to apologise for putting food on your fucking plate?", He squinted at her.
"That's all you have to say for it all?", She shook her head with pure disbelief as she looked out the windshield.
"Look how many people depend on us! You think I've got time to sit back and go over terms and fucking conditions with these other assholes? This is the world we live in now 'Chonne! All that 'kill only when necessary' shit doesn't always put food on the table", He scoffed at the notion, "These people fear us, so they won't want to get on our bad side, and that's how we keep the Sanctuary running. Look how fucking far out you have to go on your scavenges and you only come back with a quarter of the shit we get from those fuckwits"
She couldn't even look at him, she kept her eyes firmly on the road.
"The only thing I regret about this whole thing is not starting sooner", He sniffed as he looked out his window, "And now we're gonna have to go out scoutin' again now the hilltops fucking gone"
She glanced at him, "What?"
"Yeah. I had to tear the shit down because I was looking you, weren't I? Since you like to fucking disappear so much", He watched her as she drove, "You don't like to stick around so you can't be mad at how I keep things running when you gone-"
"Why hide it from me then? If you're so whole heartedly sure in your choice to kill and steal, then why hide it?"
"I thought it would be easier that way", He shrugged, "We wouldn't have to argue about it"
"So it was easier for you to lie to me?"
He pursed his lips as he examined her, "Look, sorry for 'faking it'... but I've kept this place running for us-"
"No, you've kept it running for you. For you to feel like a king-"
"Do you remember how we were fucking living before we found that place? Oh wait, no. Of course you don't because I was the one keeping shit from hitting the fan"
Her head whipped to the side to the side to look at him, "You're going to use that against me now?"
He inhaled as he looked to the roof of the car, "No. That was a shitty thing to say, I take it back, alright? My point is, you know what kind of man I am. You know what I'm willing to do, and the only reason I don't do even half the shit that I really want to do is because you're beside me! So don't be surprised if I go a little nuts when you're not there!"
"A kid? A sixteen year old kid?"
He sat back in his seat, "Like I said. Don't be surprised"
She bit the inside of her cheek, feeling quite horrible after his admission. She couldn't argue with his point, he was right, she shouldn't have been surprised about what he was willing to do, she'd seen it for herself, and she felt a fool for believing otherwise.
"You're no better than the people we've killed", She exhaled, her tone considerable lower.
"Maybe not…", He smirked, "But I'll be the man you want me to be when you're around"
"So the person that you are when I'm not around, is the real you?"
He didn't even attempt to answer, he just stared at the side of her face as she drove. A few moments of silence ensued as the tension in the vehicle was at an all-time high.
"Are you going to tell me how the hell you ended up there? What happened?"
She squinted out the windshield, finally settling on the answer she was going to give him, "I went out for a drive, some idiot tried to attack me… I ended up dislocating my shoulder and they killed him and helped me out"
"That fucking cowboy said he hadn't seen you?"
"He didn't. He wasn't there"
"You were there for what, two days? He didn't know you were in there?"
"Nope", She shook her head.
Negan chuckled, "He really is a piece of shit leader"
Her grip on the wheel tightened at his comment, and it took her a moment to realise that she reacted such a way. The car ride was becoming too much for her, and for the first time ever in their friendship, she wanted to be away from him.
"You have to stop what you're doing"
Negan sighed as he looked over at her, "Doesn't work like that 'Chonne"
"All your doing is making us a target-"
"Who the fuck can take us on? Huh? I'd love to see them try!", He snorted dismissively, ready to shoot the idea to the ground when he seemed to think about it. He squinted at her, "Why? Did you hear something back there?"
She glanced at him, preparing to lie again, "I didn't hear anything but you don't need to be a rocket scientist to know that if you kill and steal from people, all you're doing is making enemies-"
"And I'll be ready if any of those fuckers grow the balls to come and knock on our door", He insisted smoothly, rolling his gaze to the windshield, "If they have any sense they'll follow the fucking rules and we won't have to kill them all"
"How about we don't take the risk? What if we end up with more casualties?"
She could tell he was getting fed up with the argument, his shifted in his seat, rolling his knuckles, "No one is going to stop us"
"There's still an 'us' in this?"
His head turned to face her, "There will always be an 'us' in this unless you decide otherwise"
Her eyes didn't move from the road in front of her.
"Have you decided otherwise?"
She hesitated internally but kept a neutral expression on her face, "I'll protect you the way you protected me; you didn't let anybody hurt me and I'll do the same for you, but I won't support you in this"
His dark brown eyes roamed her before he sat back in his seat, sniffing, "Then there will always be an 'us'"
She inhaled deeply as she tried not to let her anger with him get the best of her. Negan's attitude disgusted her, and unfortunately for those around him, he was a stubborn man. She knew it wouldn't be as simple as just telling him to stop; he'd have to be immobilised, stripped of his resources and his man power. She'd hate that it would have to come to it, but she spent the remainder of the journey trying to figure out how to stop her friend.