Chapter 23:

"She came out of nowhere with that damn machete again, got it wedged in the son of a bitch and Carl had to help her out. Twice"

Rick resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he looked at Abraham, "Alright. I'll talk to her"

"Appreciate that", The redheaded man gave him a nod as he turned back towards the front door, "She's gonna get herself killed. I wouldn't have gave a rats ass, if that what's she was aiming for"

Rick shook his head while he wore a look of displeasure, "I'll keep her busy with somethan' else…"

"Alright", Abraham opened the door and stepped out, just as Carl stomped up the porch steps. The two gave each other subtle greetings before Carl entered the home, closing the door behind him.

"He told me about earlier, with Jessie?", Rick sighed, resting both hands on his hip.

His son had the same reaction, rolling his eyes as he stopped in front of him, "Yeah. She just got in the way"

"I'm gonna let her start up the school again. Keep her busy"

His son stared at him, an incredulous look growing on his face, "A school? For who?"

"For kids. Who else?"

"Me? You want me to go to school? Or Judith? You want her to watch Judith?"

Rick scoffed as he shook his head, "She's definitely not watching Judith"

Carl's shoulders fell, "So she can watch me instead?"

"You can handle yourself. Big difference. And from what I heard you could probably teach her a few thangs-"

"So I can be the teacher?", Carl grinned.

"I didn't say that", Rick responded dryly, "Either way you're going. It probably won't even last more than an hour or two"

"Great…", His son was quite clearly less than impressed as he made his way to the stairs, "Oh, I actually wanted to ask you if I could go out…"

He watched as the teenager turned back to face him, "Where? What for?"

"Michonne and Daryl to the Sanctuary?"

Rick had indeed forgotten about the trip they had arranged, "When do they plan on doing that?"

"Tomorrow"

It wasn't as of Rick didn't trust his son, or Michonne and Daryl, but he didn't like the teenager going beyond the walls without him.

"She said it would probably only take a day. If not then we'd stay over there for the night"

His son wasn't strengthen his argument, "I don't know about that-"

"It's Daryl and Michonne. I don't think I could be safer with anyone else. Other than you, obviously-"

"You haven't been outside with Michonne before. And that little stunt the other day doesn't count-"

"You've seen her yourself. Does it look like she doesn't know what she's doing-"

"I believe she's very capable of taking care of herself out there, and even you. The same goes for Daryl, too"

"Then I can go?"

There was a look of pending excitement in his son's eyes, and Rick hadn't seen him so animated in quite some time, "Alright fine. But you make sure you listen to every-"

"Thing they say. I got it", Carl smiled, turning to go back upstairs.

"And don't get any-"

"Bright ideas. I know!"

"Hey, hey, wait"

Carl stopped and turned back to him again.

"I wanna ask you somethan'...", Rick shifted his stance as he prepared his question, "What do you and Michonne talk about?"

Carl's face pinched with confusion as he shrugged, "Everything. Why?"

Rick almost snorted at his son's broad answer, "Just curious… I'm heading out, I need to go check a few thangs, I'll be back later. Your sister's asleep, so don't wake her."

"Alright".

Carl and Michonne's friendship was peculiar to Rick, as he genuinely did wonder what they spoke about. He had seen glimpses of Michonne's playful side, and he imagined that his son saw even more of that than he did. It made him even more aware of how his relationship with Michonne could affect things between the two of them, and he hoped it would only strengthen their increasing bond. He also hoped that he could encourage her to have some kind of interaction with Judith, without forcing the toddler on her.

Once he left his home, Rick made his first stop at Jessie's house, hoping to catch her before it got too late in the evening. The light was on in her garage, and the woman was fussing around with a tool box as Rick approached.

She looked up at him and tutted, "I guess I know what this is about"

"Yeah… what happened earlier?", Rick stopped a foot away from her.

"I was trying to help. That's all"

"I gathered that. But there's ways we do thangs when it comes to walkers, and having someone like you out there can be distracting. Then we have to worry about protecting you and killing them", He kept his tone light, but still firm.

"I get it", She huffed, turning to face him as she crossed her arms, "They looked like they were outnumbered so I thought I'd lend a hand"

Rick nodded slowly, as if he understood her reasoning, "...Yeah"

She watched him with a pensive expression, waiting for him to continue on.

"Maybe we should get thangs started with the school idea-"

"You mean keep me out the way?", She scoffed.

His gaze sailed off behind her for a second, "No-"

"I'm doing what you've been preaching about since you got here. I may be a little late, but I'm trying here"

"I want you to try, I want you be able to protect yourself and help protect those around you, but the problem is that you're not thinking", He stated firmly, "You need to remember that we don't run outside those gates swinging blindly-"

"I was not swinging blindly, I knew what I was doing-"

"If that was the case, then I wouldn't be here right now because nothing would have went wrong earlier. If my son wasn't there to help you then everythan' could have turned bad really quickly-"

"Okay, hold on a minute, your son and Michonne were stood watching what was happening and they weren't doing a thing to help-"

"Because they're both aware of who was dealing with the situation. Sasha and Abraham know what they're doing and it probably would have gone smoothly if you hadn't interfered"

Her face fell as her hands dropped to her sides.

Rick almost wished he had been better in his delivery, but he also knew he had to drive the message home, "It's great that you want to help, it is, but you need learn how to work with us. If Carl and Michonne were standing back, then you should have stood back too"

She shook her head as she turned back to her tool box, "Right. Got it."

He shifted his stance, "You can talk to a few people that you'd think would be on board teaching with you and then talk to me about it"

"Fine."

Rick backed out of the garage, leaving the highly annoyed women to continue on with her task. He was genuinely glad that the woman had adopted the right attitude, but she was still so inexperienced, and growing to be a source disturbance, instead of a source help.

He made his way to Michonne's home, hoping to spend a few hours in her company for the night. Knowing that Negan would no longer be a factor that came between them gave Rick a new found confidence, as well as great relief. He wasn't sure what her response would have been to his proposal, so to know that she wanted the same future that he did, brought him a certain kind of joy that was inexplicable.

It was while he was walking up the street to her house that he saw Daryl stepping off her porch stairs, lighting and cigarette as he moved.

"What's going on?", Rick queried, glancing towards her home.

"Nothing. Just checking we were still on for tomorrow", Daryl gruffed, snapping his lighter shut, "She told me Carl wanted to come?"

"Yeah. I gave him the all clear"

"Alright.", Daryl's eyes moved beneath his hair, "Where you heading?"

"Uh, I was just going over there to let her know that I told Carl he could go with you guys", He lied a second time, "Ask her to talk to Dwight about a few thangs too…"

Something about the way the other man pursed his lips as he nodded, told Rick that he didn't believe a word of his fibs, "Alright… Well, see you back at the house"

"Yeah", Rick sighed, stepping away from the man. He didn't even know why he bothered lying to Daryl, as the man was one of the most intuitive, and he probably had sussed something going on between the two of them, but as usual, he said nothing.

Michonne appeared at her front door with a smile after Rick knocked moments before, "Hey"

"You okay?", He smiled back, reaching for her waist as he planted a little kiss on her cheek.

"Yeah. You?"

"Yeah"

She closed the door and waved her hand towards the living area, "I let your son raid my book collection"

"Oh boy", He sighed, watching her walk past him.

"Yeah. He had the time of his life"

Rick followed her into the room, where little piles of comic books where sat on the table and the floor, "I didn't know you had this many…"

"I don't like your tone", She glanced back at him from over her shoulder.

"I'm not judging you. It's just… I don't think Carl had this many even before everythan'…", He quietly chuckled.

"I'm have even more back at the Sanctuary… did he tell you about that?", She took a seat on the couch, and he joined her.

"Yeah, he did. I told him he can go"

"Oh great, he can raid my collection over there, too", She smirked, "He told me my taste in superheroes was horrible, but for some reason he can't keep away"

"Yeah. He used to do that a lot. Especially with food. He said he hated French toast", Rick rolled his eyes as he sat back, "But whenever it was on my plate he'd be right there beside me, stealing a slice"

She giggled at him, "Andre was the master of stealing food off anyone's plate"

Rick immediately realised she was talking about her son, and he did his best to hide his surprise, hoping she'd carry on, "Yeah?"

"Yeah", She picked up one of the books closest to her, "I'm surprised Carl didn't take this one"

"...How old was he?"

Her brows knitted together as her eyes met his, "Who?"

"Your son?"

Her gaze dropped to the comic in her hand, as if she hadn't noticed her slip up, "Oh. Three."

Rick didn't want her to retreat for the topic as she had done previously, "...Do you feel like you can't talk to me about him?"

"That's not how I see it"

"You can though. If you want to", He rested his hand on her lower back, his thumb brushing the thin material of her shirt.

"I know…", She almost whispered, her gaze trailing off elsewhere, as she changed the topic, "I'm going to talk to Dwight about everything with this other group tomorrow… and I was thinking of staying up there for a few days soon"

His thumb stopped moving, "Yeah?"

"Yeah. I just want to see how things are going over there… see if he's got the handle of this 'leader thing'..."

Rick nodded, "I understand… but do you think that's a good idea right about now? With everything that's going on?"

She looked at him, "I think now's the best time. They need to be prepared too. If anything happens… the Sanctuary has the most fighters… they'd be the best ally in all of this"

He knew she had a valid point, but that didn't make him feel any better about the idea, "You're right… but if you're already going up there then is there any need to go again so soon after?"

"I'll be going on my own on the second trip…", Her eyes studied him closely, "I feel like I haven't been there for Dwight as much as I should have because of everything that's happened here"

Rick's chest grew as he inhaled, "I understand"

"I'll be back before you know it", She flashed him one of her warm, and very contagious smiles, leading him to smile back.

"I should hope so"

She raised an eyebrow at him, "And if I don't? Are you going to kidnap me again-"

"Oh god", Rick groaned, taking her by the waist and pulling her to lean against him, her back to his chest as he head rested on his shoulder, "I feel like you don't like to accept my apologies-"

"You've had to apologise for a lot", She countered, resting her arms over his, "So one thing at a time"

"What do I have to do to make it up to you?"

She began to giggle, "I might need to get back to you on that"

"Well I'm here now", He hinted, his thumb brushing over the skin of her arm.

"Why deputy?", She gasped, in a southern accent.

"Here we go", Rick chuckled.

"I do declare-"

"I've never heard anybody talk like that", He insisted dryly.

"I wish I did", She sighed, her gaze rolling up to the ceiling, "I wish I did a lot of things before all this…"

"Like what?", He queried, studying the side of her face.

"...Travelled more… a few crazy things, like skydiving, maybe even-"

"You wanted to jump out of a plane? On purpose?", His face pinched in confusion, "What for?"

She rolled her eyes at him, "Just to say, I've done it"

"Well, you could say you have now. No one has a way of finding out if you did or not"

Rick could see her cheeks rise as she smiled, "That's true. I could just say I have. Carl and I were playing a game before, pretending we were eating our favourite foods… when it was just pasta"

He raised an eyebrow at her, "Yeah?... That's what the two of you do?"

She tilted her head to look up at him, "We do a whole bunch of things, why?"

He shook his head, "No reason, just curious"

"I think somebody is jealous-"

Michonne's sentence was interrupted by a loud, heavy knock on the front door. She and Rick both stilled for a second, before she stood up and made her way to the entrance of the home. Rick sat forward on the chair as he listened, wondering who it could be at that time of the evening.

"Daryl said Rick's here, right?"

Rick quickly rose from his seat and walked into view, and once by the door he saw Tobin hovering on the porch, noticeably shaken, "What happened?"

"Something… something strange, I don't know", The tall man huffed, "I was on watch, by the gates, and a walker came out of nowhere

.. I was going to wait until it was at the gates to stab it but… it stopped, it was whispering something to me-"

"What?", Rick squinted at Tobin.

"It was whispering, it was saying something but… I couldn't make it out…"

He stared at Tobin for a moment, "A walker was whispering something to you?"

"Yeah", Tobin nodded, "I turned to call for someone and when I turned back it was gone"

Rick glanced at Michonne, who was wearing the same slight frown as him, "You're certain about this?"

"Never been so certain in my life"

He scratched his brow with his thumb, "Alright, it's dark out now so we can't do nothing about it but… we're gonna have to keep an eye out for tomorrow for any-… whatever it was you saw"

Tobin nodded a second time, "Alright… tomorrow… tomorrow"

Rick shifted his stance, "Why don't you go get some rest, Bruce is up next on watch anyway"

"Yeah… alright. I will"

Both Rick and Michonne watched the man descend the porch steps before closing the door. Michonne frowned at Rick, "That doesn't sound right"

"A talking walker doesn't sound right?", Rick repeated, obviously agreeing that the man didn't make sense.

"Then it wasn't a Walker. If he's certain that it was talking to him… and it was gone when he turned back, then that wasn't a walker"

He quickly realised what she was getting at, "Someone dressed up as at walker?"

She nodded, "It's possible. I've covered myself in their guts before and I looked like one of them"

"So have we…", Rick agreed, rubbing the back of his neck, "Whoever it was obviously trying to send a message-"

"You said you've seen some strange walkers around here, right?"

"Yeah… missing their skin"

"Missing there skin?"

"On their faces…", The pin finally dropped for Rick, "There faces… They could have been wearing it's face as-"

"Some kind of mask", She finished, her lip curling in disgust, "That's some disguise"

"It worked though…", Rick rubbed his thumb and index finger together as he thought, "They may very have been trying sending a message then, we just don't know what… but they know where we are… they must have been watching us for some time-"

"We need to stop looking for normal people. If that's how they travel, then we could have passed them plenty of times-"

"I want everybody ready, just in case", Rick started for the door, when Michonne grabbed hold of his arm.

"Now?"

"Now. Everyone on watch needs to know what they're looking out for"

"Whoever these people are, they've tried to deliver their message, but failed. They know that we probably know about the incident by now, and they know we'll probably be looking out for them, so they won't attempt it again. Not twice in one night. They obviously want to stay hidden"

He considered her point, though he still held the doorknob, "Well, that's what's going to happen. I still need to let everyone know, regardless. We don't know who's out there right now."

Her eyes darted all over his face as she slowly nodded, releasing her hold, "You're right"

"I'll be back over here when I'm done, alright?"

"Alright."