This story was born from a dream that awakened me with my heart beating fast and hard. I had no choice but to answer the calling to write. I dedicate this story to Richonne and, more specifically, to Danai, Scott, and Andrew. They gave us a story that we didn't know we craved until they fed us. They awakened the creativity in all of us, to go back to that place of wonder and imagination to tell extraordinary stories. Thank you.
~ Kivonshe
I hear shots fired and more explosions as I race up the stairs. I just need to make it to the ninth floor.
Four.
Five.
I duck to the side of the staircase to avoid a piece of structure from crushing me where I stood.
In through the nose, out through the mouth.
Life has been so peaceful for so long I never thought her training would ever be put to use.
Six.
Seven.
Almost there. Just make it to the ninth floor.
The door above me bursts open and I hear a team of soldiers running down, intercepting my path.
Fuck!
Quietly as possible, I slip through the exit door on floor number seven. There are empty cubicles everywhere, maybe they will believe no one is here, I can wait it out.
Quickly I dive over one of the desks as I hear the soldiers open up the door.
"Shhh…" I placed my fingers to my lips. The desk I chose had the only person left on this floor. He appeared to be gathering his things to leave before I interrupted him. Carefully, he pushed his chair in to obstruct the view of me.
"Where is Grimes?" A female soldier demanded.
"Look, I just work here. We gotta get out of here the building is collapsing. Are you here to escort us?"
I can't see them. How many are there? Two, ten. As if he were reading my thoughts, I saw the man tap his thigh with two fingers. They must've gotten distracted just for a moment. I understood.
Two.
"I'm going to ask you again. Where is Grimes?" I could hear death in her voice. He heard it too. He knew he was not going to make it out alive.
"Fuck yo—." One shot to the head took him down. He fell, knocking the chair from in front of me, exposing me momentarily before his body fell on mine.
Please don't be one of the variants who turn quickly, I prayed. I may not have paid attention to everything in church but I believed there is a God. I hope He answers and quickly.
"What happened?" I heard a man's voice.
"Plans changed. Kill everyone and everything. Burn them all to the ground." She replied.
What the fuck is going on?
The beginnings of a panic attack take root in my chest, threading itself into my lungs, my eyesight, and my mind. I have to fight it or I'm dead. I hold my breath in hopes that it's long enough for them to leave me undiscovered.
Thump.
I swallow a lump in my throat.
Thump.
Sweat pools at the tip of my nose. It tickles me annoyingly. Fight it, don't be you right now, ignore it, I tell myself.
THUMP!
My heart pounds inside my chest, willing me to set it free.
Just a few more seconds.
THUMP!
I'm going to die here.
THUMP!
I hope she finds me. I wouldn't want my final resting place to be underneath a dead man.
Finally I hear a door slam. I take in one huge breath, steadying my thoughts and processing the information I overheard. I have to find her. She will know what's going on.
I have to get to the ninth floor.
I say a silent thank you to the man who sacrificed his life for me before driving my knife into the base of his brain. I don't know what he did in life, if he was mean or lacked integrity but, in his death, he was good to me. The good ones are becoming more and more normal to find these days but, where there is good, there is always someone threatening to destroy it.
Just as I moved the chair, and the good man, out of my way, I heard the door open.
"Goddammit!" I hissed aloud, immediately placing my hands over my mouth.
"Who's in here?".
Fuck!
Steady footsteps approach. I know he's listening, walking my direction, waiting to carry out the orders from whoever orchestrated this plan. My thoughts immediately go back home.
Judith, Rj, Mj, and Ruby. I have to get out of here. For them. For me.
A rage sets in replacing the panic that threatened to undo me. She taught me better than this. I can control it. I will live.
Closer.
Closer.
Just a little more.
He takes his final step.
Goodbye.
I take my shuriken and drive it into his foot. His screams are muffled inside his helmet. Short blade drawn, I slice his Achilles. He falls down, trying hard to shoot me through the pain. I kick the assault rifle from his hand and send a kick so hard from underneath his chin.
A large crack tells me his neck is broken.
Thank you, Michonne.
I go to remove the mask to kill the brain. It would be nice to watch him turn but he wouldn't recognize the pleasure I receive from his eternal torture. That would ruin the fun.
"Oh my God!" I fall backwards, stunned at the face behind the mask.
"No no no no no. Why you?" I cry. I caress his face with trembling hands, wishing he would wake up, wondering how he is involved. "Why?" I sob, my insides slowly disintegrating as I try to process how this happened. How and why is he, was he, involved.
What in the fuck is going on?!_
The building was crumbling all around us. Light fixtures hanging, fires burning, and the beginnings of a flood taking place. It feels like I'm trapped in my own book of Revelations.
I made it to the ninth floor, hiding and waiting for them to reach our rendezvous point. Suddenly, the door opens. I go to stand but quickly duck down, realizing it's not them.
"Where is Grimes and Bethune?" One of the soldiers hissed.
Bethune.
I know that name.
It was the name Michonne used when she went to save him from the CRM. But why, why now? How do they exist?
My vision is blurs again, black walls closing in on me. My heart feels as though it's pumping out of my brain.
Where are they? We can't die in here we have to get out of—
"Amethyst!" I snap my head up from my panic. So much blood was rushing to my head I never heard her enter and kill the soldiers.
"You found me." I said through a cracked voice as we embrace. "Where is Rick?"
Silence.
Her silence was so loud I couldn't hear my own thoughts. My knees buckle but she catches me before I hit the ground.
She takes my face into her hands, searching my eyes with hers in the way that she does, always finding, always commanding undivided attention.
She finds me.
"Don't do that." I look away briefly but her eyes find mine again.
The building is on fire, flooding, and crumbling all around us but she doesn't move, she doesn't falter.
You've been here before…
"We are going to find him, he is going to be alive, and we are going to get our family to safety."
Her words breathed life into me. I felt as though she physically put a chalice to my lips to sip from her fountain of courage and strength. I steady my breathing, returning her look with a confident one of my own.
Trust.
I trust her with my life. Our children's lives.
"Okay." As we stood up she held out her hand for me. She always knows exactly what to say and do.
We are the ones who live.
The family mantra.
I believe it. I always believe because I'll always believe her.
"Let's go get our husband."