Chapter Eighteen:

Michonne had only sensed something odd was happening under her nose on the morning after their return because she was sat outside enjoying a cup of cold tea in the corner of the porch. The sun was still rising so she was sitting in the shadows, and maybe that's why the two men didn't see her; one of them stepped out of the Andersons home, looking around suspiciously until he was joined by the other. Michonne recognized them both, she'd seen them around the community but never spoke to them or knew their names. She watched them converse for a few moments before one slipped back inside the home and the other snuck away.

She remembered when she'd caught a few residents venting about Rick. She couldn't be sure if those two men were involved, but she wondered if it had something to do with that. The fact that one was clearly waiting for the other told her that their little meeting was planned beforehand, and that didn't sit well with her.

Rick had the right qualities to be a great leader, but he still held onto those ruthless qualities that probably came in useful when he was outside the walls. Michonne could easily imagine that it was the latter that made him unpopular with the people around them. It didn't help that most of the community were in the dark about what led to Negan turning up at the gate; one minute everything was fine and the next, they were having to give away their belongings to men and women that ransacked their home. Their old leader, Deanna, was still held up in her home and only made an appearance to scold Rick. She could understand why they'd be frustrated with the new direction they were being led in. Rick had a lot of explaining to do, and he had to do it quickly if he wanted to keep the peace in the community.

She stayed on the porch until she heard a fairly loud disagreement taking place in the home. She heard Colette's voice first, which was hardly surprising, followed by Elodies, but the loudest voice of all was Judith's. Michonne hopped out of her seat to see who upset the little girl.

"If you wanted a shower then you should have been in the bathroom¬ but you weren't!", Colette threw her hand up in the air as she stressed her point, "That's you're stupid fault, not mine¬"

"I left the shower running! All my stuff was in there!", Elodie balled her fists at her side as she yelled at her sister from the other side of the kitchen counter, "The water's cold!"

The twins had to shout at each other because Judith provided them with background noise; a constant high pitch scream that included her banging on her highchair table with her bowl. She obviously didn't get much of a chance to make so much noise, so she was truly enjoying herself.

Michonne was about to close the front door when she noticed Carl coming down the stairs, but after looking into the kitchen, he swiftly turned back around and went back the way he came. She felt sorry for him.

"Why are you being like this?!", Elodie vented, "You're so¬ so¬"

"Whatever!", Colette snapped as she set down a plate on the kitchen counter with a little more force than necessary, "Why are you even talking to me right now? Don't you have a stupid boyfriend to go and see? Talk to him¬ not me!"

Michonne surged forward, "What is going¬"

"What is going on down here?!", Rick's voice traveled through the entire bottom level of the home as he stomped down the stairs in just his sweatpants and wet hair. The girls, including Judith, all fell silent, but he continued to probe, "Huh? Why are you all yelling and why are you screaming?"

Of course, Colette didn't reply. Judith sunk lower into her highchair as if she were trying to hide, so it was left to Elodie to explain, "I was going to take a shower¬ I left all my stuff in the bathroom and went to get my hairbrush and Colette went in there and used all the hot water¬ I told her to get out but she locked the door"

Rick looked back at Michonne, who had decided to lean against the wall so she could watch how he handled the argument. He raised an eyebrow at her and she replied by tipping her head towards the girls as if to say, 'Go ahead'.

He faced them, "You can use our bathroom, Elodie"

Elodie's eyes widened, "But that's not the point¬ She's being horrible on purpose because of… because of¬"

"Because, what?", Colette wiped around angrily, "You better not say your stupid boyfriend, because I don't care. I couldn't care less if I tried"

"Hey", Rick clicked his fingers to get Colette's attention, "What did I tell you about that?"

Colette's eyes lit up as though she'd just struck gold, "Oh yeah! Dad thinks he's stupid, too!"

Michonne was taken aback to hear Colette to finally refer to Rick as 'dad', but she couldn't revel at the moment for too long because she was shocked at what the angry teen had revealed. She frowned at the back of Rick's head, wondering why he'd say such a thing, while Elodie appeared hurt as she peered in their father's direction. Rick struggled to explain himself, "That's not what I meant¬"

"Alright", Michonne had to intervene when Colette started to cackle, "Elodie, go upstairs and use our bathroom."

Elodie looked at everyone in the room one last time before she sulked away, while Colette continued to taunt her with an evil snicker.

"You", Michonne zeroed in on the other, "Stop. That. Now."

Colette's smile was quickly replaced with an exasperated expression, "She's the one that came in here and¬"

"I said", Michonne warned, "Stop. If you knew she was planning to use the bathroom then you should have waited or used another bathroom. You know you wouldn't like it if she had done that to you, so you better keep that in mind next time"

As expected, Colette reacted by huffing and puffing as she sauntered out of the kitchen, but not without mumbling, "I'm not even hungry more."

One door slammed upstairs, then another downstairs, and suddenly the home was quiet again. Michonne sighed, while Rick closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, "...What time is it?"

"I don't know", She smirked as she made her way over to Judith, "But definitely still early… And a little tip for the future? Don't ever tell one something that the other can use against her. Then it looks like you're picking a side."

"She knew that's not what I meant", Rick stressed.

"Of course she did."

"I do think he's stupid but he's not her boyfriend¬ I'm starting to hate that word", Rick raked his fingers through his still wet hair, "And I spoke to her about that yesterday¬ they were meant to talk it out and move past this"

A chuckle erupted from the deepest pits of Michonne's stomach. She hadn't heard something so funny in a long time. She gave him the most incredulous look as she asked him seriously, "Is that what you thought?"

He stared at her, "Was that really that funny?"

She still laughed as she picked Judith up, "Yes. It really was."

He eyed her from head to toe before he turned his attention to Judith, "And what was all that screaming you were doing?"

Judith leaned closer to Michonne, "...Not me"

"Not you? Well If it wasn't you then who was it?"

"...Lette' an' El-oddie"

Michonne bit back a smile, while Rick shook his head, "That's not true. I heard you loud and clear."

Judith pouted, then looked to Michonne for help. She couldn't hold back her smile any longer, "It's not her fault. She just wanted to join in"

Carl came back down the stairs, obviously pleased that there had been a cease-fire. He chirped in a cheerful tone, "Morning."

"Morning, son", Rick greeted back, "Did you hear all that?"

Carl scoffed as he made a beeline for the refrigerator, "Of course I did. That's all I've heard for two days now"

"Sorry about that Carl", Michonne offered, "If they start up like that again then I'm sure your dad will make an exception to that throwing fruit rule"

Carl snorted as he laughed, while Rick shook his head with despair as he began to turn around, "I need to get changed"

"We need to talk", Michonne used the hand that wasn't holding Judith to hold his forearm, "Now."

She didn't want to alarm Carl so she followed him upstairs with Judith in tole, and let the youngest Grimes child run rampant their room while she informed Rick of what she'd seen earlier that morning, and what she thought it meant. He reacted how she expected him to; his 'family man' exterior fell away, and he slipped into survivor mode. He put on his denim shirt and pants in record speed as he prepared for confrontation, all while Michonne tried to think of a more rational way of dealing with the possible problem.

"You said that we need to talk to everyone¬ That has yet to happen", She pointed out calmly from her seat on the bed, "I think you need to speak with Deanna and try to get her to join her for the next town meeting¬"

"Sounds like we're past all that", He replied firmly as he shoved his belt through the loops on his pants. His eyes darted from one piece of furniture to the other, "Where's my gun?"

She ignored his question, "We're never passed talking, Rick. They might be frustrated with the way things have been around here but when you get everyone together and show them¬"

"Show them what? What do I have to show them?"

"That everything you're doing and have done was to protect this place", She tried not to match his tone, "They may not agree with how you've done it, but they need to be reminded that that's the goal here"

"You really think they wanna' hear that?", He narrowed his eyes at her as he asked the question, "The fact that they're sneaking around here making plans to meet up proves that they don't give damn anymore. They're ready to start making thangs happen... And I'm ready to stop them before they even try"

She inhaled deeply, "Well at least call the meeting early¬ Catch them off guard. We talk to Deanna and we get everyone together in an hour or so. If they see that she's backing you up then that might make them back down"

He still looked around the room as he said, "And what if they don't? You expect me to keep talking then?"

"Yes. You talk until they give you a reason not to", She said sternly, "We've got enough problems on our plate¬ We don't need anymore. Everyone out there should want to fight with you against Negan, not against you"

He finally stopped scanning the room like a madman for his gun and looked directly at her.

"Keep that in mind", She added for good measure. He peered down at Judith, who was placing random items she'd found around their room, into the cups of Michonne's bra to use as a hammock.

He smirked for only a second, then headed towards the door, "Fine. Let's go."

Even though he had agreed with her, he still held onto his original plan with both hands; he loaded himself with his gun and hatchet before they left their tension-filled home.

The community was no longer asleep, and residents were beginning their day with a sour look on their face; some patrolled the streets while others made their way to the crops and pantry. Rick marched passed them without so much as a glance in their direction, leaving it to Michonne to see who was evil eyeing him behind his back.

Daryl was stepping out of Carol's old unit when they were coming close to Deanna's. Michonne must have missed the silent line of communication they shared because the shaggy-haired man immediately closed the front door and stalked in their direction.

Michonne had a feeling that things could go terribly wrong if they didn't meet some kind of resolution. It was only just yesterday that Rick was convincing Ezekiel to go to war with them, and if the other leaders all agreed to join them then what good would it be if his own people were against him? She couldn't, and wouldn't accept that.

A tall, slender man opened the door to them when they arrived at Deanna's home. Michonne learned that his name was Reg, and he was Deanna's husband. They had a surviving son named Spencer who didn't make an appearance in the family's lounge that morning.

Rick insisted that the older couple took a seat so that he could explain what was going on, but Deanna insisted on shinning the light on Michonne first, "I haven't interviewed you before. I would know… But I've seen you around the community"

Michonne slowly nodded her head, "I came here with my daughters, my… then boyfriend and another couple, the Jacksons"

"Ah, I see", Deanna also nodded, "And what did you do before this?"

"...I was a lawyer", Michonne wasn't understanding where her line of questions were leading, "In Atlanta"

Reg peered at Rick and Daryl as he sat forward in the patterned recliner, "Oh, like the two of you"

"Yeah", Michonne exhaled, "Rick and I grew up in the same town"

Deanna's eyebrows rose, "Really?... Wow. What are the chances of you two running into each other all these years later?"

"That is some luck", Reg agreed with his wife, "Especially in today's climate"

"Well in spite of everything that's happened recently", Deanne peaked in Rick's direction, "I hope that you and your daughters have settled into your unit"

"We really should find a job for you to do", Reg reached for a book and pen on the coffee table. Michonne began to frown at him when he opened it up and started flicking through the pages, "As a former lawyer, I think we could use your skills to help settle disputes¬"

"I'm sorry to interrupt", Rick didn't seem sorry at all, "But there's a group out there that are working for a man that wants to clear this place out. Take food from your mouths, take the clothes off your back and the furniture that you're sitting on, and then he wants you to provide him and his people with everythan' you can find for as long as he can use you, but you wanna' sit here and talk about jobs? That's your number one priority right now?"

Deanna and Reg reared back in shock.

Michonne didn't agree with Rick's delivery but she certainly agreed with the message. She expected them to start sniffing for the latest information following their return from the Kingdom, not her future job prospects.

"And to make matters worse, you might have people out there that are more interested in taking me on than the actual threat we have coming this way", Rick scoffed as he started to pace back and forth beside the couch, "That's why we're over here. That's what we came to discuss¬"

"Taking you on? Who?", Reg glanced at his wife as he asked Rick the question, "What's going on?"

"Now he asks", Daryl muttered from the corner of the room.

"I've noticed that a few people in the community haven't agreed with the way Rick is handling things here", Michonne explained calmly, "And I have reason to believe that they plan to do something about it"

Deanna rolled her eyes shut and sighed, "...I see"

"Who?", Reg clasped his hands together, "Who is it?"

"A few people", Michonne tried to describe them, "This morning I saw two dark-haired men, one of them looked like he was probably in his forties and the other was young, one big and one a little smaller¬"

"Bobby and Tommy", Deanna recalled easily, "Bobby came here from Washington…. Tommy was Carter's son. If I remember correctly, his father was killed on your mission to get that heard away from here… He'd always voiced his… concerns… with Rick"

Rick carelessly cocked his head to one side.

Michonne continued, "I think they might have been there when a few people were upset after Negan was here. They were angry and¬"

"And they had a right to be", A males voice entered the room before he did. A young male appeared moments later; he had dark hair and equally dark circles under his eyes. He peered around the room at everyone before his eyes landed on Rick, "Look what you've done to this place¬"

"Spencer", Deanna warned, "Calm down"

"No, mom", Spencer bit back, "You don't know what he's done¬ While the two of you have been locked up in here, I've been out there¬ I've seen how he treats people. I've seen how he just makes decisions for everyone without talking to everyone like we used to¬"

"Go ahead", Rick stopped pacing and faced him, "Get it off your chest"

Spencer spoke with a little less conviction, "You and your people ruined Alexandria¬"

"How?"

"...This place was a community before you got here. We worked together to get things done¬"

"You threw parties", Rick tilted his head as he made the mocking statement, "Gave people little uniforms and jobs to do, all while trying to hide what was going on beyond these walls from the people¬"

"We protected them. People had food on the table and a safe place to sleep at night¬"

"These same people couldn't protect themselves", Rick put some base in his voice, "Those same people couldn't protect their families. Those same people didn't know that there were men out there willing to do anythan' to get what they wanted. Those same people didn't have a damn idea how to survive, and some of you still don't"

Spencer's fierce brown eyes darted up and down Rick's face, "If you know how to survive so well then why are we in this mess with the Saviors?"

Rick took a small step closer, causing Reg and Deana to inch forward in their seats. He looked Spencer dead in the eyes as he said, "Because we agreed to help others, and don't you think for a minute that I'll ever regret that"

"Not even after it got your friends killed?"

Michonne stood up because she expected Rick to kill him. She expected him to pull his gun or hatchet free and murder Spencer on the spot, but he didn't do that. Instead, he simply said in his most menacing voice yet, "I wanna' hear you say that again"

Spencer didn't appear to back down, but he certainly didn't repeat himself either. Reg joined Michonne and rose from his seat, "Look, stop this now. This isn't how we settle things here¬"

"Reg is right", Deanna ejected firmly, "We can talk like civilized people, so we will talk like civilized people"

Rick slowly tore his ice-cold gaze away from Spencer, "You might wanna' stress that to your son here"

"I'm stressing it to both of you¬ to everyone", Deanna insisted sternly, "Now we know what the problem is, we need to come up with a way to fix it"

"We want to fight back against Negan", Michonne responded, "But we can't do that if we aren't doing it together. We need to show them that this is something we can do as a community."

Reg peered down at his wife, who looked at Michonne curiously, "Rick said that it's another group? How big?"

"We can get the numbers. We're working on it."

"They took our weapons"

"Not all of 'em", Daryl rapsed from his corner.

"I can't believe this", Spencer shook his head with disgust, "Mom, you saw those people¬"

"I did. Of course, I did", Deanna snapped, "They were in my home, rummaging through my things, your brother's things. I don't want that to happen again; not to me and not to anyone"

"Then we have to stop them", Michonne concluded, "That's our only answer. If we don't then they'll be here every week to do the same thing, over and over again until there's nothing left to take"

"If you won't listen to me", Rick sent Reg and Deanna a pointed look each, "Then listen to Michonne"

"What?", Spencer turned his attention to her, "My parents don't even know who she¬"

The angry young man hadn't even finished his sentence when Rick pulled his pistol free and aimed it between his eyes, only inches from his face.

"Rick!", Deanna sprung out of her seat, "No! Stop!"

"Put the gun down!", Reg ordered.

"This is just a warning", Rick explained calmly as he flicked the hammer with his thumb, "That was strike two."

Spencer was virtually translucent when Rick lowered his gun. Michonne actually saw the moment he started to breathe again.

Deanna huffed and puffed, while her husband slumped back into the chair with his head in the hands, "We can't work like this. We don't settle things like this¬"

"Out there we do", Daryl finally moved from his position, "Whatchu' think is, huh? This is some kinda' game? You think Negan and his boys are playin' games? Well, I got news for you; they ain't tryna' sit down and talk. They wanna' walk in here an' take our shit an' leave. It's as simple as that. You don't think we got anythan' worth fightin' for then I'd like to see anyone of Y'all go out there and find shit for them"

Reg and Deanna looked just as taken back by Daryl's speech as they had done to Ricks.

"Y'all wouldn't last lt two seconds out there", Daryl shot a mean look in Spencer's direction, "Especially you"

"...If we want things to go back to the way they were…", Michonne said softly as she spoke directly to Deanna, "Then we have stop people like Negan. We can't let him set the rules."

Michonne was sure that their conversation would have gone a lot smoother if there wasn't so much testosterone in the air. Deanna and Reg may have been a little naive and completely unprepared to deal with what was on their plate, but besides that, they were very rational people. She could understand why they were the previous leaders, and she could understand why they were no longer leaders.

Deanna finally gave them an answer with obvious reluctance, "...I'll agree to this under the condition that we wear out all our options first. If there's another way for us to deal with this then I insist that we give it a try before we start a war"

They were too far passed dealing with Negan another way, but Michonne agreed for the moment to keep the peace, "We understand."

Spencer showed how displeased he was with their conversation by stomping out of the room, and subsequently out of the house. Michonne was almost certain that he was involved with whatever planned uprising some of the residents had in mind. His frustrations towards Rick and his parents was all too clear.

They agreed to hold the meeting within the hour, which gave them time to spread the word throughout the town. Rick seemed to believe he had time to do other things too, "I want Rosita and Tara to be ready for thangs to change around here. Jesus and Aaron, too. If thangs go left then we need to be ready for that"

"On it", Daryl nodded once for confirmation then broke away from Rick and Michonne as they walked down the street.

"Hold on a minute", Michonne took Rick by the minute, "Have you already forgotten the point of today?"

"No, I haven't", He stopped walking and faced her, "I just like to be ready for the unexpected. You saw Spencer that back there; he's hyped up and ready to do somethan'¬"

"I know, but I'd rather we only had one angry little man to deal with than a group of them"

"Well if they make the wrong move then the only angry little man you'll have to worry about around here is me."

Michonne wasn't expecting his comment to turn into a light-hearted, self-deprecating joke. It made her smirk all the same, "You are enough."

There was a hint of a smile on his face, "...You hear Colette call me 'dad'?..."

"She did", Michonne slowly nodded her head, "I don't think she noticed"

"She didn't. She did it last night, too", He appeared genuinely pleased, "I think she's getting a little comfortable with me"

"I think so, too."

Both girls had settled into life with their father quite while, and Michonne was happy to see how their relationships went from strength to strength, but deep down she was a little envious. She still hadn't made much headway when it came to Carl, but she took pride in being able to make his son laugh so her efforts weren't completely at a loss.

They continued walking up the street to their home and saw that Elodie was sitting outside with Carl and Judith on the porch. Colette was nowhere in sight, and Michonne couldn't stand to see her daughters at odds. She could admit that she was a little more lenient with Colette since her injury because she knew that the teen was still adjusting to her new form, but allowing her to have her space was doing nothing for her relationship with her sister.

She could rest easy knowing that they were fiercely protective over each other whenever danger struck, but she wished they would show that kind of consideration to each other with or without a threat in the picture.

"Uh, Rick? Michonne?", Jessie Anderson called to them shortly after they passed her home, then did a little sprint to meet them in the street, "Hey, good morning"

"Morning", Michonne slowly turned around, while Rick only looked back from over his shoulder.

"Problem?", He asked suspiciously.

Jessie crossed her arms over her chest, "Uh¬ No, no problem... I wasn't sure if the kids told you but I stopped by the house with Ron while you were gone¬"

"We know", She had Rick's full attention when she mentioned her son. Michonne tried not to sigh; she could see he was gearing up to voice his biased and unwarranted opinion on the Anderson teen.

"Well it's just that, I spoke to Ron right after we spoke", Jessie looked in Michonne's direction, "And I think that this all seems pretty innocent between the two of them, and all the kids are really good friends so I don't have a problem with the two of them hanging out together"

Rick began to shake his head, "Well I don't¬"

"We", Michonne ejected quickly, "Agree. They can hang out together but we just don't want to catch anyone trying to sneak out at night again"

Jessie slowly nodded her head, "Yeah. Of course not… And I hope you don't mind that I took Ron over there¬ We didn't stay long but he wanted to say 'Hi'¬"

"That's fine, and thank you for bringing them dinner", Michonne could tell that Rick was annoyed by the way he looked away from both of them, "We appreciate it"

"Oh, it's nothing", Jessie waved her hand, "I had some left over so I¬"

"Was you with Bobby this morning?", Rick asked bluntly as he faced her again.

Jessie's smile faded away and she crossed her arms tighter around her chest, "...I may have been, Why?"

"Is he still there?"

"No. He should be on duty… Why? Is there a problem?"

Rick glanced at Michonne, then asked, "You noticed anythan' off about him?"

The creases in Jessie's brows softened and she quickly appeared confused, "Off? What do you mean by off?"

Michonne's gaze darted to a figure in the distance; it was the young man she'd seen earlier in the morning. Rick had noticed him too, and they both watched Tommy lower his head and walk back the way he came when he spotted the three of them in the street. She looked at Rick and simply said, "Later."

It took him a short while to finally tear his gaze away from the young man's back, but when he did he agreed, "Yeah."

They parted ways with a baffled Jessie and made their way home, where Michonne tampered with the idea of taking her Katana with her to the meeting.

She didn't want to, and she didn't like to think that she had to, but Rick wasn't the only person with a temper so there was the chance that she'd need it, especially if her suspicions came true.

She dreaded the thought that someone would want to hurt him. While Negan was an enemy and hell-bent on showing them who the boss was, Michonne could see that he liked tussling with Rick. He enjoyed having a strong opponent because it gave him a chance to exercise his own strength and power, which lead her to believe that he was in no rush to kill him, but she couldn't say the same for the residents.

They might want him dead, and that was something that she simply couldn't allow. She didn't want anyone to die or even be injured, but if push came to shove then she was more than willing to stop any of the residents in their path.

"Why can't I come?", Carl was visibly annoyed when his father told him that he'd have to stay home during the town meeting.

"Because I'd prefer that you stayed here", Rick checked the barrel of his pistol as he answered his son, "If anythan' happens then¬"

"Then you might need my help", Carl pushed, "You've needed my help before and I've been there"

Michonne tried to make it seem that she was listening from the living area, but she certainly was. She found it sweet that the boy was always keen to stand by his father; she could even remember the first time that she ever laid eyes on him. He looked like a miniature version of Rick, holding his gun in his hands and aiming directly at Dominic.

"Elodie and Colette can stay here with Judith. They'll protect her if something does happen", Carl continued, "So let me come with you, please?"

Michonne heard Rick inhale deeply. The fact that he didn't rush to tell his son 'no', let her know that he was considering it, and she quickly learned that she was right.

He finally replied, "Fine, but you stay up front where I can see you. And bring your¬

"I got it. I always have it."

Michonne felt as though she could finally leave the room and remind them of her presence, just as Elodie came down the stairs with Judith teetering in front of her. She gave her daughter a small smile, "We're going in a little while"

"Okay. You won't be long though, right?", Elodie let go of Judith's hand so she could make a beeline for her father, "There's a bug in my bedroom and I can't get it out"

Michonne gave her a little frown, "...Did you try?"

Elodie nodded a little too enthusiastically, indicating that she was lying, "Yeah…"

Michonne smirked as she smoothed back the wild curls at the top of Elodie's head, "Yeah, right. Ask Colette. She doesn't mind that stuff"

Elodie didn't look impressed, "Maybe when she stops hating me"

"She doesn't hate you. She's just being a little dramatic at the moment and she'll calm down soon enough", Michonne insisted tenderly, "You both can be pretty dramatic at times¬"

"Not me. I'm the reasonable one."

Michonne gave her a blank stare as she said in a dry tone, "Oh, of course. I must be mistaken then."

Elodie pursed her lips to hide her smile but ended up giggling anyway, and Michonne giggled with her.

Rick had picked Judith up and was showering her with some parting affection when Colette came out of her new room with her dreaded sweatshirt on. She was clearly still annoyed with her family because the hood was up and the drawstring was pulled around her face. Michonne internally groaned before she said to Elodie, "The two of you have to watch Judith while we're gone"

"Alright", Elodie shrugged, "No problem"

Michonne pulled her sheath strap over her head, "And hold off for the potty training for a while. I caught her staring at the toilet in our bathroom this morning and I'd never seen her look so scared"

Elodie cringed, "She didn't fall all the way in. Just a little..."

Rick came over to them and handed Judith to Elodie as he asked Michonne, "Ready?"

She nodded, "Yeah. Let's go."

Rick was right to feel the way he did about the residents, but that only became clear to Michonne when they left the home. They had made it to the bottom of their porch steps when they noticed a small handful of residents, led by Spencer, marching in their direction. Other residents that were heading to the chapel for the town meeting had stopped to see what was happening. Rick peaked at Michonne from over his shoulder and arched his eyebrow as if to say, 'See?'

She wouldn't throw in the towel just yet. She stoically placed herself beside him.

The five men and one woman stopped short of a few feet away from them. Michonne didn't see any weapons but she didn't take that as a reason to believe they didn't have any concealed. Spencer stepped forward and said, "You need to step down. We don't want you as a leader here anymore"

"Is that right?", Rick narrowed his eyes at him, "Is it just the six of you that feel that way?"

"We want to hold a vote. If everyone agrees then you leave", Spencer stood firm. Michonne checked for Carl; he was on the other side of Rick, glaring at the people in front of them. She looked back towards the house and saw the twins in the doorway, Elodie holding Judith on her hip while Colette was protectively standing in front of them. She would have preferred that none of them were there to witness the disagreement but she had to face it; they'd seen worse.

Rick tilted his head just a little, as though he were actually considering the proposition, "And if they don't?"

Spencer shook his head, "That's not an outcome that we see happening. We're all sick of you¬"

"What is going on here?", Deanna asked angrily as she stomped her way up the pavement, followed by her husband.

"Alright, hold your vote", Rick prompted coolly, "Everyone's already out here so ask them, right now. Go ahead."

Spencer glanced at his parents, "They know what's going to happen. They know that you're all going to try and talk everyone into siding with him¬"

"We're sick of this Deanna", Bobby added from behind Spencer, "We want our community back the way it was; with you and Reg in charge¬"

"And what do you think's gonna' happen with the Saviors?", Rick took a small step forward, "Even if you cast your vote and kick me out of here, what's your plan then?"

"We can strike up our own deal with him", Spencer replied firmly.

Michonne's annoyed reaction to his response showed all over her face, while Rick was so shocked that he smirked, "A deal? You wanna' make a deal with them?"

"If it ensures our safety, then yeah, we do"

"Ensures your safety?", Rick moved a little closer, "I think you mean that if it ensures that you don't have to fight"

Spencer spluttered his words everywhere, "Not everything is a fight!"

"Now that's where you're wrong!", Rick shot back, "Everything in this world is a fight now, whether it's against walkers or it's man against man. If you want anythan' at all then you have to fight for it, and that includes your safety! Making a deal with Negan won't ensure that. All you'll be doing is agreeing to work for him"

Spencer shifted uncomfortably, "That's still better than leading everyone to their deaths"

"And you think that sending people out on runs to find food for them is any different?", Rick squinted at him, "Have you forgotten how your own brother died?"

Spencer smoothed out of realization, while his father took the opportunity to speak, "Look, we planned to talk about this so why don't we all head over to the chapel and do that. We can all voice our concerns there¬"

"We still haven't had our vote", Bobby pointed out roughly, causing a woman at his side to nod her head in agreement.

Michonne noticed Daryl appear from the corner of her eye; he was followed by Rosita, Tara, Heath, Scott and a worried looking Aaron. She didn't let them distract her too much but she was secretly pleased to have some familiar back up.

Deanna spoke up, "You are all obviously very upset but this isn't the way we do things¬"

"We haven't done things the way we do things here since he turned up", Spencer had gathered himself together, "We deserve a vote! We deserve the right to choose who we want to lead us¬"

"You heard the man", Rick commanded everyone's attention, "If you think that I'm wrong, and you want the chance to see what it would be like to work for Negan¬ to see how it feels to risk your lives out there and scavenge for food and supplies that aren't even for you or your family… or to spend time growing crops that you won't even get to enjoy, or to get sick and not even have the medication you need… then raise your hand. And I don't say that so you'll all side with me, I say that because that's what will happen if we don't fight back"

The other residents didn't move even a digit, but they did look around them to see if anyone did agree with the hell that Rick had described. Surprisingly, Jessie Anderson spoke up, "None of us want that. None of us want a repeat of last time. We still haven't even recovered¬ All that food in the pantry should be for us, not them"

Michonne appreciated the input. It ignited others to speak and Tobin soon followed suit, "That guy Negean seems like he'd kill one of us just for the fun of it, even if we did make a deal with him"

"It wouldn't be a deal", Heath declared sternly, "It would be an agreement. An agreement to give him what he wants"

"We want to talk about this", Deanna tried desperately to regain some kind of order, "Please, can everyone just¬"

"Hold on a minute¬", Spencer held up his hands to stop them, "That's not what we're voting for here¬"

"Uh, yeah it is", Tara scoffed, "You heard the people; we want to fight back¬"

"No!", Spencer snapped. He peered at his parents for help but they both appeared to be more shocked at his behavior than what others had to say. He aimed an angry finger towards the ground, "The point of this was to get Rick to step down as leader¬"

"If you think that I'm stepping down then you're mistaken", Rick stepped closer to him, leading Michonne to clear her throat rather loudly. She knew that his patience was wearing thin with Spencer but Tara was right, the residents had spoken and they were all in favor of their cause. They were heading in the right direction and she didn't want them to veer off track. Rick stopped moving but he kept talking, "It's clear that you don't wanna' do anythan' because you're afraid, and you might not like the way that I do thangs but everythan' I do is to ensure that this place is still standing. I'm no different from anyone else here, I have a family that I wanna' protect just as much as the next person and in order to do that you have to stop being afraid and you have to stop thinking about your damn self"

Spencer shook his head adamantly, "I think about this community more than you do¬"

"It seems that you, and your friends here..", Rick peered behind the tall young man to see his small group of followers, "...Are more hung up on me and what I'm doing, and not what will happen if Negan has his way around here? I can't see the sense in that, and I can't see this place standing much longer if someone like you got your way¬"

"Well I don't care what you think", Spencer reached behind his back and pulled out a small, black pistol, causing everyone to gasp and back away. Michonne slowly raised her hand towards her Katana.

"Spencer!", Deanna cried, "Stop!"

"You don't need to do that son!", Reg inched closer, "We were all listening to what you have to say¬"

Spencer's arm didn't tremble, "No, you're not! You're all listening to him!"

"I must have hit a nerve when I pointed my gun at you earlier", Rick hadn't moved, possibly because it wasn't the first time he had a gun aimed between his eyes.

"You don't have me fooled. You never had me fooled. I've been watching you from day one¬ You lead Carter to his death, you lead Nicolas to his death and now you want to do the same with everyone else¬", Spencer was so engrossed with having his say that it gave Rick the opportunity to knock his arm away to one side. Spencer squeezed the trigger out of reflex and the gunshot caused some to scream and others to duck out the way. Michonne pulled her weapon free while Rick used his body to shove Spencer to the floor; Michonne stomped on his hand so he'd release the gun and kicked it towards Daryl. Even Carl had his gun drawn and aimed it at Spencer.

"I bet that didn't go the way you planned", Rick sounded highly annoyed as he pulled his own pistol free. He leered at the rest of Spencers troup, "Anyone else?"

They stepped back innocently with their hands raised. Bobby shook his head as he spoke timidly, "N-no¬ We didn't agree to that¬"

Judith's wail told them that there was something wrong. She sounded like a siren. Michonne immediately backed away and looked towards the front porch; she couldn't see anyone standing by the open door but she did see movement through the porch rail. Someone was on the floor. Panic struck her core with such a force that she dropped her katana and hurried towards them.

The girls were still by the door. Colette was on her knees with her back towards the entry. Judith was holding her head to indicate that she was hurt, while her other one hand rested on Elodie's stomach. The little girl had red freckles on her face but it wasn't her blood. Colette had blood on her hand and sweatshirt, but it wasn't her blood either. It all came from the gaping wound where Elodie's eye used to be.