Chapter 11:

Michonne sat on the bed in the Monroe's home contemplating whether to visit Negan. The last time they spoke, they had gotten into an argument rather quickly, and while she knew he'd still be very angry with her, she was hoping he'd at least calmed.

"You up?", Dwight called from the other side of the door.

"Yeah", She called back, her throat dry and horse.

"I'm going to get some coffee on, you want anything?"

She sighed, forcing herself to stand. She opened the door, "I'll come down"

In the light of day she understood why Negan questioned her outfit choice. While it was something she would have worn in her previous life, it wasn't something she'd see as practical in the new world. She didn't know why she dressed up in such a way, but at the time, she thought it would be a nice change. She certainly wasn't hoping to catch anyone's attention, though she caught Ezekiel's.

The man was nice to her, and he was attractive, but a little too flirtatious for her liking. She could see how he had become a leader however, as the man could be bullish, much like Rick. He was another person she was growing tired of.

"What time do you want to leave?"

Michonne poured the hot water into her cup, humming, "And hour or so? I wanted to take a look around… I talked to Rick about moving here yesterday"

"What did he say?", Dwight put down his cup to look at her.

"He agreed, said there's going to be ground rules though"

"Like what?"

"Whatever he can think of on the spot to annoy me"

Dwight chuckled with his mouth closed as he shook his head, "Maybe… Are you going to see Negan?"

She sighed, "Another one that wants to annoy me"

"I was actually thinking of paying him a visit…"

Michonne raised an eyebrow at the man, "No."

"I just wanted to explain to him why we all did what we did-"

"He knows why. And you don't owe him an explanation. I don't want any of the Savior's to think they owe him something-"

"Neither do you? But you keep going down there?"

She stared at him for a few moments, then shook her head, "I'll finish my tea when I get back, then we can start getting everyone together"

Dwight seemed to relent on the discussion. She trusted Dwight, almost as much as she would say she trusted Negan, but she wasn't ready to divulge anything to him.

She stalked out the home and down the street, looking for someone, anyone, but Rick to give her a tour of the community. While she knew she wouldn't have much influence on Alexandria as a resident, she couldn't help but have questions about how things ran.

Much to her dismay, she saw Rick first, standing on a front porch of what she assumed was his home, holding a toddler. Her heart began to race in her chest at the sight of the young child, but she wouldn't allow herself to run away. She kept her head up as she placed herself on the pavement in front of his home.

"Can someone show me around?", She asked, her eyes locked on him.

He bounced the little girl on his hip as he looked down at her, then slowly began to walk towards his front door, "Carl!"

Moments passed, and the teen appeared at the door, "Yeah?"

"Take your sister for a little while. I'll be back", Rick handed his daughter over to the teen, "She's probably tired"

"Alright", Carl gave the little girl an exaggerated smile as he turned back into the home.

Michonne looked towards the rest of the street as Rick made his way over to her, feeling as if she was intruding on his family's exchange.

He began walking ahead of her, and she followed, eyeing the homes as residents began to appear, "We have a pantry, an armoury, infirmary and a church, that we mainly use for meetings but… they do other thangs there too"

Much to her confusion, he lead her towards the watchtower, where he stomped up the stairs, a little grunt leaving him every so often. She really wish she found someone else to give her a tour, as he seemed to have an attitude about doing it himself.

When they reached the top of the tower, He sent away a young man who stood watch, and he began pointing at the buildings they could see below, "Armoury. Infirmary. Pantry. Church. We grow crops there, and there. There's a small burial over there for residents"

She squinted, recording all the information he gave her.

"Everybody gets a job here, so anything you feel like you could offer?"

She gave a little shrug, "Quite a few things actually"

He folded his arms as he leaned against the wall, "You were one of the leaders at the Sanctuary?"

"I was"

He slowly nodded, "I'm not sure if everybody would be comfortable putting you in such a position right away..."

She looked at him.

"We'll let you get familiar with everyone first, see how it goes from there"

"Fine."

"Now the rules; no one is allowed to go beyond the walls without good reason or alone"

She rolled her eyes as she crossed her own arms, "Yeah."

His tone grew stern, "And we settle disputes as a group, no one gets to make a decision regarding the rest of us on their own"

"Yeah."

"We won't stand for killing, unless we're under attack. And we don't stand for anyone putting someone or others in danger"

"Got it."

"Now, with Negan"

Her eyes narrowed at him as he stepped closer.

"You'll be free to see him when you please, but I stand by my point, if he hurts any of my people, I'll kill him. And If you're living here then that makes you one of us, so that rule goes for you too, especially if you're going in that cell with him"

He almost had her engaging in one of their countless staring contests when she snapped her eyes shut at him, turning her gaze elsewhere, "That won't be a problem"

"I hope not", He didn't move, still invading her personal space, "When do you plan to move in?"

She thought about it, "I want to make sure everything's fine back at the Sanctuary… then get my things"

He nodded, his eyes still burning into the side of her face, "Fine. Tomorrow?"

She slowly inhaled, preparing to face him again, "Tomorrow."

"We'll have somethan' ready for you then. Come on", She had barely blinked, and he was already making his way back down the stairs.

Hearing him say he would kill Negan if he hurts her left a strange taste in her mouth. She knew Negan wouldn't hurt her, not just because of who she was to him, but the man didn't take interest in hurting women entirely, in fact, such a thing disgusted him. That wasn't what bothered her however, it was knowing Rick would use that as means to kill him. She hadn't even officially moved in yet.

"Well good morning!", Ezekiel greeted from further down the street as they left the tower.

"Great", Rick muttered under his breath, though Michonne heard him. She smirked, causing Rick to look at her. She raised her eyebrows at him innocently, before rolling get her eyes back to Ezekiel.

"How are you both doing on this fine morning?", The leader queried as he approached them.

"Good, thank you", Michonne answered.

"Any problems?", Rick asked, his tone still stern.

"No, none at all. The home was perfect", Ezekiel responded, "I actually wanted to know when everyone was planning on leaving?"

"Soon", Michonne's eyes trailed behind him when she saw a few Savior's stepping in to view, "Very soon"

"We should all come together more often, many people enjoyed themselves yesterday and this is what we want to restore in our residents", Ezekiel spoke proudly, hands on his waist as he looked around the community, "We're doing a great thing here"

Michonne slowly nodded in agreement, while Rick stared at the man, his top lip itching to curl.

She imagined Rick probably agreed with Ezekiel views, just not the way he presented them.

The other groups soon left Alexandria to return to their homes, and Michonne was well and truly sad to say goodbye to her home.

When she and Negan initially found the abandoned factory, they already had a few people with them that they had found along the way, but they didn't expect their camp to grow so large. If someone had told her things would turn out the way they had, she'd think of them crazy. Despite it all, she was excited for the future. Excited to see how so many communities could help rebuild civilisation. She didn't expect it to return to the world it was before any time soon, but she was ready to see how much they could achieve.

She was in the middle of packing her bag when a knock at the door caught her attention, "Come in!"

The door creaked open, and Sherry popped her head in the room, "Hey, are you free to talk?"

Michonne looked down at the clothes folded on her bed and gave a little shrug, "Guess so"

Sherry stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. She held her robe closed as she walked over to the bed and sat on the edge.

"You going somewhere?", She asked, her brows knitting together.

"Alexandria", Michonne exhaled, "Have to keep an eye on him"

Sherry looked at her with wide eyes, "So you're moving there?"

"I am…"

The woman's looked strangely disappointed, "I thought you'd be here to help Dwight… I know he's a little nervous about it all-"

"He can do it. I know he can. And I'm not abandoning this place, I'll still come around to help him if he needs it"

Sherry seemed to struggle with the news but still nodded, "Alright…"

Michonne froze with her shirt in her hand, "Something else?"

She sighed, her gaze darting all over the place, "I don't know how to say this… No one else knows and I don't know what to do…"

"...Go on"

"I'm pregnant"

Michonne's eyebrows crept up high, then fell back down, "Oh…"

"Yeah", Sherry shook her head, "I know it's Negan's. I haven't had a period for three months and… I was telling myself it could be because of something else... but I took a test and… well… yeah"

Michonne sat down, unsure of what to say to the woman to make her feel any worse about her situation, "I don't think you should hide it from Dwight..."

"I don't want to hide it from him, I really don't but at the same time… I don't want this to be the thing that breaks us. The only reason I agreed to be Negan's wife in the first place was so it would make things easier for us here and I know Dwight hated that, but it worked… until we got caught"

"Did he know you were having unprotected…"

Sherry shook her head, "Well he knew we were probably sleeping together but… we just never spoke about it. It was too hard on him"

Michonne bit the inside of her cheek as she thought about it, "You need to tell him. I know it won't be easy to but… he has to know, and you have to be ready for his reaction, good or bad…"

Sherry bowed her head, smoothing her hair back from her face, "I know. I know. But it's just so damn hard"

"Have you thought about Negan in all this? I mean, he obviously can't do anything about it-"

The woman's head snapped up, "I don't want him to know. At all. If he ever gets out and he-"

"He's not getting out. I'm making sure of that", Michonne reassured.

"But 'if'! There's always an 'if'! I don't want to go near him again"

"Do you think he'd hurt you? Or your baby?"

Sherry hesitated, her mouth opening and closing as she struggled to answer.

"He wouldn't. I can promise you that he would never do such a thing… he'd be mad", her eyes widened a fraction, "Oh, he'd be very mad, but not at you. At the fact that he's locked up and he has a child that he can't see"

Sherry watched her a few moments, "Do you think it would be good idea to tell him? You know him better than anyone?"

Michonne huffed, her mind racing as she quickly weighed up the positives and negatives of telling Negan about his child, "That's a tough question. I can see why you wouldn't want to tell him, but I still believe he has a right to know, and while I know he's a danger to almost everyone, he wouldn't be a danger to you or your baby"

The brunette continued to stare at her.

"This isn't my decision to make but… I advise you tell them both regardless-"

"Can you tell him?", Sherry's eyes widened as the idea popped into her head.

Michonne inwardly groaned at the notion, "I think it would be best coming from you-"

"You know that's not true. You can handle him, when he snaps you know how to snap back and I'm… I'm not like that. I get scared and nervous and I start to stutter…", the woman looked as if she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders, "Please?"

Michonne wanted to kick herself, "I'll tell him. But after you tell Dwight, okay?"

Sherry nodded hurriedly, "Fine. Fine. I'll do it. Thank you so much Michonne. I know none of this is your fault or your business but… I appreciate your help either way"

"Yeah…", Michonne sighed, her eyes sailing around her room, "No problem"

While Sherry's pregnancy was an unexpected one, Michonne couldn't help but wonder about what kind of father Negan would be. She soon realised that if he does get to play a role in the child's life, the poor thing would grow up to have the mouth of a sailor. She almost chuckled to herself at the joke.

She hoped news of Sherry's pregnancy didn't disrupt his new role. While she understood it would be quite the bombshell, the last thing the Sanctuary needed was a heartbroken leader making emotionally charged decisions.

The next day she spent her morning loading up her jeep to leave, as well as informing those who asked where she was going. Most people seemed quite relieved with the idea, while others questioned Dwight's capability. She spent a lot of time reassuring the worried.

Once her own bags were loaded, she made her way to Negan's room to collect clothes for him. She hoped Rick didn't expect him to live in the same clothes day after day, though she wouldn't be surprised if he didn't care.

Negan's room always slightly horrified her, as the man's taste was the polar opposite of hers. She thought it looked like something out of a vampire's lair, with black and red tones. He had insisted it was for his women, but she refused to believe such a thing. She moved around the room grabbing his shirts and pants, and gingerly emptying his pants and socks into a duffle bag. She was in the middle of fighting the zipper closed when she saw a polaroid on the his night stand. She picked it up and smiled, shoving it in her back pocket, sure to give it to him.

"Ready to go?", Dwight asked as he waited beside her Jeep.

"Yeah. All packed", She groaned as she threw the duffel bag in the back seat, "You can clear out his room? Maybe give it to someone else? I already took everything out that he needs"

"Alright", The man nodded, opening the car door for her.

"You know where to find me", She reminded as she jumped in the driver's seat, "And don't doubt yourself. You've got this"

"Thanks. Tell Rick I said-"

She scowled at him.

Dwight chortled, "Never mind"

She hoped he would take her advice seriously, and a part of her felt bad for about the news he would soon learn, but she had faith in him.

The sun was high in the sky as she drove, and she allowed herself to get lost in the music, enjoying the peaceful ride. She played with the pendant on her necklace as she drove, her thoughts traveling to her son. It wasn't something she allowed herself to do often, as it was a wound that hadn't healed, and one she wouldn't allow to heal. The topic was a delicate one, one that she hardly even talked about with Negan, but it warmed her heart that he would think of him. It was that side of the man, that she truly cherished.

When she arrived at Alexandria, a young woman opened the gates for her, allowing her to drive in. She pulled up and got out, just as an Asian man walked up to her with a warm smile.

"Michonne? I'm Glenn", He held his hand out to her.

She shook it, "Hey"

"We have quite a few homes available, so I can show you a few, you can pick which one you want?"

Her eyes sailed past him, as she shrugged, "Yeah, sure"

"Great. You can leave your bags here for now, we'll come back and get them when you've decided"

She nodded, "Well, let's go house hunting".