Before

The novelty of the helicopters wore off fast. For years she'd been traveling on foot, and before that by car. The few times she'd flown in an airplane had been a smooth, cushioned-seat ride. The choppers with nothing like that.

Okafor offered to teach her to fly, but she refused. She didn't want to put more time in one of those things than she had to.

Unfortunately she chose a nomad's way of life and volunteered to leaf scouting missions around the country. She did so to avoid putting down too many roots in one place, but it also meant that she frequented the helipad. Even more so once she was appointed to the Council, and had to be back in the city, or at least somewhere reachable by radio for important business.

She'd just arrived at one of these signal-happy locations in Northern Canada, freezing her ass off, when the transponder picked up the frequency. There weren't many people out there with radio capabilities like theirs, so it surprised her every time it did happen.

She waved away her communications director as he tried to remind her of the upcoming call on another channel, wanting to see what she could pick up from the line she was currently turned into. They spoke English and talked in a code she didn't understand, but she was able to pick out one word that made her smile.

Knots

They were on a ship.

Now

She tilted her head at his suggestion and ran the scenario through her mind, the possibilities of pulling it off. The CRM did have a few boats to their name, but they were all in use with different projects and responsibilities. Not to mention, none of them were sailing internationally, just up and down the coasts. Across the ocean was possibly unaskable. The one vessel she knew for a fact was capable wasn't hers to dictate.

She frowned at the man and began to shake her head when he half-growled at her. "I know there's boats, Councilor ."

The tone in his voice reminded her of their positions and that she was not someone who got pushed around. "Then you know that none of them are really fit for transatlantic voyages. They're just large fishing boats, nothing that would last on open waters," she replied haughtily. She exhaled and tried to ease the spurts of anger. "There is a ship that could do it. But it's not mine to give away and they won't agree to it."

"Then we make them," the father expressed. She'd only just officially met this man but she wondered how Stokes put up with him. "Where can we find this ship?"

She shook her head at the man. "You don't," she said with finality. "I'm telling you, they won't go for it. They haven't let anyone on their ship that wasn't there at the start, and they're nearly impossible to find. They don't come close to the coast unless they have to, and most frequencies can't get to them from land."

"How did you find them before?" She turned to the man blocking the door, basically with just his body mass. He really was huge.

She sighed. "Accidentally. And they weren't happy about it." She shifted on her feet, something she hated doing in front of an audience she was trying to control, but she couldn't help the uncertainty coursing through her body. She hated being outnumbered.

"But you could do it again?" the king asked

The Councilor frowned at him, feeling like she was about to be pressed into doing something she really didn't want to. She thought those days were over. "Possibly. But I'm telling you, they won't help. They're even more secretive than we are."

They all seemed to think it over for a moment before Ezekeiel asked, "What do you know about them? The ship–it's big enough to sustain the people onboard? You said they don't come to shore unless they have to."

She nodded. "It's a naval aircraft carrier. They were on some top secret mission in the Arctic when everything happened, and didn't realize it until they tried to come home. By that time we were months in and everything was pretty much gone." She paused. "They only come to shore when they need supplies or fuel, and it's impossible to guess where that'll be. Any port with bunker fuel is up for grabs since no one's doing a whole lot of sailing these days."

"Is a plane off the table?" The woman standing in the front, Mercer's sister, spoke for the first time. "Wouldn't one of them be easier to get a hold of?"

She saw Rick shake his head before speaking. "Planes need clear runways on both ends of the flight, and it'd be nearly impossible to ensure that with walkers doing whatever they want. Plus, we'd need a pilot who knew how to fly it, the fuel, and it'd have to be airworthy," he shook his head again. "Too many variables. If the ship's already running with people who know how to then it's our best bet." He'd hardly finished speaking when his wife cut in, as if she'd been holding onto the words for as long as she could before they burst out.

"Why do you care so much now?" Beth flicked her gaze to Michonne, who inserted her question in the middle of their conversation. She had a skeptical look on her face and was staring right at her. "You knew where we were, you kept tabs on what was going on. You never interfered. Why do you care now ?"

The room held still as they waited for the blonde to answer. She honestly should have thought of something more diplomatic to say, but instead she went for the simple truth. "This isn't for you ," she said in a hard tone. "I talked with Carol while we waited for you all at Grady. Daryl was the only one who wanted to find me. My own sister gave up, left on some fool's errand with strangers, and the rest of you were barely convinced. I don't give a fuck about helping you, I'm here for him. "

Rick had the decency to look ashamed while Michonne tried to hold it from showing on her face. The others stayed quiet, very much understanding that this whole thing was going to happen with her help or not at all. She swallowed down the bile that threatened to rise just like her memories of the time started to. "We'll need to go to the coast if we want to try to reach them." She looked around the room at the occupants, briefly landing on Judith before she glanced away, unfocused towards the front of the room. "There's room for 12 more on the helicopter. Decide who's coming."