Surviving The New World (Book Six in the Surviving The Walking Dead Series)

Pointing Fingers

Banging. Deep in my dreams...I heard banging. Banging of drums in my ears. Cracks of distant gunshots...banging. How I wished the banging would stop. "Michaela!" I quickly sat up in bed and locked eyes with Rick, who stood in the doorway. "Get up, now."

"What the fuck, Rick?" I asked as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. "Ya couldn't knock?"

"I did, but ya didn't answer." Rick looked to the ground. "Will ya please cover yourself up?" I looked down at myself and sighed as I covered myself with the comforter.

"What do ya want?"

"Where's Daryl?"

"He's right—" I looked beside me and, much to my surprise, Daryl was gone. "I—he was just here."

"When did he leave?"

"I dunno, we went to bed together and I slept all night. Rick, what's goin' on?"

"Get dressed and meet me downstairs in the office, I'll brief everyone together." Rick slammed the door shut, earning a groan from me. What the fuck was so goddamn important that he had to wake my ass up at the ass crack of dawn? I crawled out of bed and jumped as Daryl exited the bathroom, towel drying his hair.

"What are ya doin' up so early?"

"Could ask ya the same," Daryl leaned over me and gave me a kiss. "Ya looked so exhausted last night, I figured you'd sleep the day away."

"Rick woke me up, said that I needed to get dressed and meet 'em downstairs in the office."

"Just you?"

"He asked where ya were, but I didn't know at the time, so I'm assumin' all hands on deck."

"Wonder what's goin' on."

"I dunno, but it must be important." I stood up and wrapped my arms around him. "Maybe we can try for round two tonight."

"Maybe, but only if you're up for it." Daryl gently kissed the top of my head and pulled away. "C'mon, better not keep 'em waitin'." Daryl and I got dressed as fast as we could and made our way into the office. Inside, Maggie, Rick, Jesus, and Michonne were waiting for us. Rick took one look at Daryl and I could instantly tell that he wasn't pleased.

"Where were ya?" Rick asked.

"The fuck, man?" Daryl grumbled, taken aback by Rick's attitude.

"He was in the shower," I explained. "I didn't know."

"Rick, can you please just tell us what's goin' on?" Maggie asked with exhaustion.

"We all know about what happened to Aaron yesterday, right?"

"I-Is he okay?" I asked.

"He's fine," Rick nodded. "I ran into Justin sometime after I had ya taken back to the med-bay tent and had a word with 'em about what happened. I had every intention of sendin' 'em packin', but he insisted that what happened was completely on accident. So, I gave 'em a final warnin', but then he gave me one, too."

"What did he say?"

"To keep my dog on a leash," Rick locked eyes with Daryl.

"What's this got to do with me?" Daryl asked grumpily.

"Nothin', I'm just tellin' ya what was said. Anyways, he was supposed to continue workin' on the bridge today, but I got word that he never showed. Someone said that his shit was gone, too."

"So he walked off," I scoffed. "Good riddance."

"That's the thing...he never made it back to the Sanctuary." Michonne added.