Chapter 2

"Michonne is going to kill you."

"Yeah… she is. If she finds out, but I don't expect to see her for at least the next day or so."

"She'll know. She always seems to ."

"Yeah. You're right," he said, then sighed a long sigh, "She's got what she calls the Black Mom Sense. She ALWAYS knows when I've done something wrong… Well except this last time."

"I'm not convinced even now that she didn't know you would follow her," she said as she lay in the crook of his arm. "Especially when you turned up at the absolute right moment and called and said… tell me again what you said. It sounds better when you say it."

He felt the heat of the blush rise around from his neck to his freckled cheeks. The freckles all but disappearing from the red obscuring the apples of his cheeks. He counted his blessings that it was that special hour before dawn where the sun hadn't quite decided to take its turn from the dark night. As luck would have it that he was laying on his back. Enid's head was turned down with her cheek resting in the middle of his chest so when he repeated his words from the story he had recounted earlier, she wouldn't see the flush her words had caused.

"I said, 'No Bitch. She brought me'."

"Yeah, Carl," Enid exclaimed and then quickly shut her mouth for fear of waking Maggie in the next room. "That was so bad ass," she continued in a low whisper that still conveyed the pride she felt. "I wish I was there to see that trash lady's face when you guys showed up. Guns blazing and blowing up her entire world."

Carl was quietly grateful that Enid had to stay behind at Hilltop to protect the kids, his baby sister being one of her young charges. He knew she could handle herself when it came down to it. She had told him about some of her time on the outside the gates before she ended up in Alexandria. He remembered trumping her turtle feast with his own barbecue dog luncheon.

Enid's tenacity and downright bravery was one of the reasons he didn't worry much about Judith being under her care. If the worst had happened, and the war ended up at Hilltop's high fences he knew Enid would defend it tooth and nail, to her very last breath and that she would have survived. Enid would just survive somehow.

That didn't stop him from being happy that she wasn't with him in the middle of the fray. Carl knew, try as he might, even though she didn't warrant his worry, Enid's presence would have been a distraction. Instead of a boon of hope that pushed him to fight harder, he knew his mind would have wandered to thoughts of her safety at some point. Even a moment's diversion would have cost him or someone their life. He shifted slightly, a heavy ball appearing suddenly in his chest as he remembered that someone did die because of him.

Carl will forever remember the face of the man who had been his enemy sacrifice himself to save Carl's life. He would forever remember the man called Roland who by chance, had ended up on the wrong side of the war. Roland had made a choice to join the side that he knew was right in the end though. The choice cost him his life but he died with honor and not the stench of treachery mixed the underlying aroma of old garbage that his leader, Jadis, had covered his whole colony in with her betraying acts.

Enid had felt Carl tense and put a calming hand on his chest. Carl instantly breathed out another long sigh, this time one of relief as he felt the weight in his chest lesson with each slow brush of her hand. He reached his left hand and put it on top of her smaller hand and just let it follow the up and down rhythmic rubbing of chest. It was so soothing that within minutes he felt the droop of his eyes that desperately need sleep.

The adrenaline of the day had finally begun to wear off and he felt the deep exhaustion try to pull him down to the depths of sleep.

"Carl, you cannot fall asleep here." Enid shook him gently and reluctantly got up from the crook of arm, immediately missing the warmth from him. She had been so happy to see him walk through the gates unscathed but instead of running to him she had stayed at her post at the window and had watched him walk in with his victorious parents. Enid wasn't the running into the open arms of guys type.

She knew he would come find her as soon as he could. She even knew he knew that she was waiting for him and when he looked up at the window, she knew he saw her. The one blue eye was sharp as any hunters, compensating for it's missing mate, Enid had surmised. So when he finally made his way to the library she had been stationed with the children of the community with a few other guards, she merely turned and gave him a small grin and let him walk to her.

When he was about a foot away she took her own footstep toward him and they faced each other and just stared at each other for a full minute. Apprehension in their stances because after all, they had only had that one kiss, which seemed a forever time ago.

It was actually Judith who was their two awkward teens saving grace. The moment the young girl saw her brother she hollered "Caaaaahh!" and broke the tension by taking a running tackle for her brother. She caught him too right at his knees and he toppled over. Enid went for the save by reaching out for him but ended up in the Judithmade heap. Then the laughter broke from the both of them. Letting all the air out of the sheepish bubble they had found themselves in moments before. And they were just Enid and Carl again. Best friends again. Maybe more but at that moment they were back to that comfortable place that they had established during the time at Alexandria.

When Carl had come to the trailer she shared with Maggie later that night she knew that he would come to her then too. He was practically bubbling over to tell her all that happened right down to the moment he got to Hilltop. They hadn't planned on spending the entire night talking but the time just did it's thing with them not noticing it. And here they were, with the dawn fast approaching. Carl told Enid everything. From how he snuck out of Alexandria and followed Michonne and Rosita to one of STASH points where the communities had been stockpiling weapons for the coming war to the particularly unsavory part of the saving of the so-called 'wives' of Negan. Enid didn't much care for the part of them running around half naked in front of Carl but he had got past the part of the story which not so flicker in the pace he had been telling that she managed to find the humor in it from his perspective.

"You're gonna be in so much trouble already for sneaking out Alexandria," Enid admonished, "It doesn't matter that you came at the right times. Michonne is gonna find a way to get in that behind of yours. And catching you out of your room again is just going to make it worse."

"Yeah…, I know," Carl got up reluctantly and stretched his long tired limbs. "I already took The Lord Of The Rings trilogy from the library for the apocalypse grounding i'm about to get. Not to mention the hours of babysitting I know is coming my way. "

Thoughts as ordinary as grounding from the woman he'd known as his mother made him almost happy. Almost. He was looking forward to the peace that he hoped would last for a good long while. Looking forward to doing something as mundane as watching his little sister play with her cups and looking forward to being bored. Not having to worry about when the enemy was going to strike or which member of his family would be taken cruelly away from him at the hand of a psychopath.

He was also looking forward to seeing what would become of that man who caused all the strife of loss Carl and his family had had to endure.

"And you need to be awake to see what's going to happen to him,' she said. It was as if Enid read his thoughts from the squint that Carl's single eye made at the thought of the man who survived the brutal stabbing his father had deservedly dealt him. "I still can't believe he's here. That he's still breathing."

"My dad has a plan." Carl said determinedly, although he too was confused as to why Negan had made it through the war without a bat wound to the head. He had seen the moment his father had decided to let the murdering bastard live. He could almost understand why but it still didn't sit well that resources had been used to allow the man who tore their entire world apart live while so many, like Roland had died.

"My dad has a plan." He said with more certainty. "And I'm not gonna miss it when it begins."

WSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWS

HERE WE ARE AT MY FAVORITE PART OF THIS WHOLE PROCESS! RESPONDING TO YOU WONDERFUL READERS!

FIRST OF ALL THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ MY NEW CONTRIBUTION TO THIS WONDERFUL FANDOM! MY FIRST AND ONLY. EVERY NEW FOLLOWER AND FAVORITE EMAIL NOTIFICATION I GET IS LIKE A LITTLE HUG AND I RETURN EACH EVERY ONE OF THOSE HUGS WITH ONE OF MY OWN.

RBGzMom you flatter me ! I am no genius. I'm just like you and just happy to have a place to tell my little story. Speaking of where is Days Of Apocalypse As The World Turns Around All of Richonne's Children? How are Carl and my baby girl Justice doing? What about crazy Olive Oil ... Just asking.

MamaJ! I am so happy you liked the bit of petty victory sexy times. I aim to please as does Rick.

kokoleeks well damn right back at ya! i hope that means you enjoyed it... and that you will continue to enjoy this new journey.

Philly Girl52I had to come guns blazing considering what the show did to me/us. They did us dirty and I really can't believe that the characters I loved so much are actually gone from the show I once loved. And Judith owed them one don't you think.

amberJoy38 Not as excited as I am to have you enjoy it! Thank you love!

luvmesumRick awwww thank you for missing me. Is that a thing that one thanks for... I'm making it a thing. THANK YOU!

can08writer that is such high praise coming from a talented such as yours! Thank and let's see where we go together!

viva1215 hey there! Welcome and thank you! I hope I can continue to do this story and Richonne fandom justice.

member00 giiirrrrrrrrrlll your reviews give me the giggles something fierce. Me and the fam are safe and in lockdown. This is the weird new normal and I gotta say... I don't like it! But we gotta stay safe.

Yelle Hughes i gotta say i'm loving your take on Rick's absence. I LOVE IT! bring it on with more of that please. Thank you for the awesome review. As if I don't "talk" to you every damn day. I surprised myself with this story seeing as how I totally lost inspiration but you and your story inspired me to start it over again. So extra special thank you!

V, Guest , Guest 2 thank you thank you thank you! I hope you continue to enjoy this story. Looking forward to seeing your thoughts!

tremendouswitch so happy that you loved the start of this journey! Richonne for life: I agree I agree I agree!

IsisNicole my dearest "demigoddess" you know what, only you could pull off a Yeehaw in a review! I love it and thank you. You know a controlling rough ride is my Richonne's kink... among other things.

NOW last but certainly not least, my dearest Richonne4Life I do believe this makes me the winner of a certain wager that we made back when the world was free to roam unmasked and within 6 feet of each other. That makes me up by what was it... 5 + 10 + well lets just say just because you been dropping shorty rock amazingness doesn't mean I'm not steady looking for a certain shmupdate to a certain Monstractions. Aaaannywaaayy... I love how you say you're not going to rant and yet...You bring Sarah Paulson's Marcia Clark up in here as your what? Your rant representative? As you can see there is a plan. We don't know what it is yet but there is one. Negan WILL BE DEALT WITH! I love your enthusiasm though! I'm here for all of it. Judith is a warrior princess and she knows how to give the victors their spoils... sometimes. We'll see! Thank you for readership and your support! again... Contractons... where is it?