No Rest For the Wicked ~ A Walking Dead Fan Fiction

Chapter 56- Hail and Farewell

Chapter 56

First Person~ Kate

"Thank you." Rick said as we walked down the hall back from the boilers, side by side.

"For what?"

"Talking me out of it."

I shook my head, a small smile on my lips. "That was a waste of my breath. You would have come around. I know you Rick; you would have done the right thing."

"Would have. Maybe. But it still would have been too late."

"Daryl's gonna catch them."

"We can only hope."

"I'm sorry I bit your head off. You're a good leader Rick. I haven't always shown a lot of faith in your calls but I have faith in you." I told him, knowing he was questioning himself in a big way right now.

"I- those calls... The wrong ones- the ones you knew were wrong, that the others knew were wrong, they didn't have to happen. I know you always get your word in," He said with a small chuckle, bumping my shoulder playfully before regaining his serious composure. "But the others don't always. We're a group. A family. We're here because of that. Not me. So these choices, they gotta be made by us."

We slowed and came to a stop by the door as I stared at him intently and considered what he was saying. Social reform; back to a democracy. He was stepping down from his self-appointed throne. This move was both for the group and himself. I wasn't opposed to his independent leadership but this was what he needed right now, and what a lot of the others needed too. I nodded at last. "Together."

"Together." He agreed, a smile tugging up his lips at my support.

"Now you know I gotta go after him, right?"

"I know." Rick nodded a ghost of a smile staying on his lips. He'd been expecting that.

"Keep a watch on Elsie for me." I requested before pecking his cheek and stepping outside.

"Michonne!" I exclaimed, catching sight of the woman through the trees. I changed course to reach her where she stood looking unharmed but also alone. "Good to see you." I clapped her shoulder, enjoying the genuine relief of finding her anywhere other than the Governor's hands. Another glance around confirmed my original suspicion that there were not two brother's in the vicinity, my brief relief being quickly smoldered by the issue of their absence. "What happened? Did you see Daryl come by this way?" Daryl had given me tracking pointers over the winter but I still didn't stand a chance at tracking him fast enough to catch up. Thankfully I could guess the meeting place would be the feed store again and knew the way there.

"He didn't want anyone to go after him." She confirmed I was on the same path as him but also stepped between me and where I was headed. She didn't draw her sword but that didn't mean she couldn't hold me back.

"Are you going to stop me?" I asked bluntly, staring her dead in her deep, chocolate eyes. She was unreadable so I didn't know whether she spent her minute in silence considering or just enjoying watching my impatience but either way I didn't have time. I attempted a side step her and she moved with me, still not raising a hand or drawing a weapon but remaining in my way. "Michonne, please." I begged for the second time in one day which wasn't like me but it was the second time today I was that desperate. The fact that she was here and they were not was substantial reason to worry and worry I did, so much so that my body physically reacted to the turmoil in my mental and emotional states. Acid churned in my tight stomach that felt like it had a brick in it weighting it, my heart and my lunges all down together. "I- I need to find him. If something happens to him... I can't lose him. I need him." I pleaded, opening up to her in a way I would never do under anything other than dire circumstances. This must have got through her unchanging exterior somehow because she stepped back, allowing me hassle-free passage. I nodded just once, my appreciation wholly encapsulated in it. "They're waiting for you back and the prison." I told her something she was probably unsure about before taking off again to continue sprinting through the woods.