Chapter Seven- Escaping

'Are there any more nails?' Michonne lisped between a mouthful of nails gripped in her teeth.

Andrea turned from her own half finished barrier to count the nails she had left. She groaned, turning silently to the old spice rack hanging on the wall. Pulling it off, she used the tooth end of her hammer to pull the rusty nails out of the wall before dismantling the rack itself for the equally tired nails. Counting them quickly, she finally turned to Michonne with a small smile.

'Got another seven,' she passed them over, chuckling slightly as Michonne instantly slipped them between her teeth ready. She preferred holding hers in her pocket.

The house filled once more with the muffled hammering of wooden planks and chunks to windows and doors, as the two women carefully secured every point of entry into their home. The herd earlier had unsettled them, spurring both into action as their survival instincts and terror heightened with each passing hour into darkness.

Andrea knocked a few more times against a particularly busted nail before finally setting her tools down and going in search of Michonne. Her eyes scanned the house as she walked through; double checking every window was secured. Walking into their bedroom her eyes finally settled on Michonne as she shoved a chair up against the windowpane, opening the only unsecured window a few inches. Her head turned to the small groans of the walkers chained beside the door, flinching back slightly as she realised how close they were to her. She wasn't afraid of them anymore, but they still disturbed her.

'Hey, it's all done, we can settle a bit now.' Andrea suggested quietly as she moved to their supplies at the far side of the room. She was well aware Michonne had yet said a word to her, but carried on anyway, 'We have out of date pea soup tonight, bet you're excited.' She joked, a sardonic chuckle following her own lame joke, hoping she could pull Michonne out of a mood before she fully shut her out. She did that sometimes, usually after a close call, she would go into super warrior mode and act like more of a lieutenant than a friend towards Andrea.

'Mich?' She tried again, her voice lilting with hope and confusion as she poured the two powered sachets into two cups.

Michonne repressed a flinch as her blonde companion called her softly, turning to look at her. She deliberately forced a calm expression on her face, despite feeling anything but calm. She was worried about the herd, worried that they would pass them...again. She knew Andrea was just as worried, but the pale woman reacted with forced calmness to hide her fear. That was something significantly different about them, Michonne thought offhandedly, how they both reacted to fear. Andrea would try to act strong and assured with gentle touches and idle talk; Michonne would turn stoic and focused to keep said fear taking over. She suddenly realised she's been staring at Michonne without actually saying anything.

'Yes, soup, sounds nice.' She muttered, lowering her eyes from the pale ones before her as the blond approached, holding out a cup for her, steaming ever so slightly. She took it gratefully, a smile unwittingly coming to her lips for Andrea.

They drank the soup in silence, picking out bits of dry pea husks from their teeth with distaste. Eventually Andrea gave up and gulped it down in a few short mouthfuls. Michonne shook her head in disapproval. It seemed a constant battle for her to get the blonde to savour their food to gain the most benefits from it. Michonne would chew every morsel a hundred times, and despite only having a little of anything, she would feel full by the end of it. Although, as another pea husk tickled the back of her throat, Michonne realised Andrea had a point in downing the disgusting liquid as quick as possible and copied her actions.

The sly smirk from Andrea didn't go unnoticed.

'I'll take first watch.' She suddenly said drawing Michonne's attention back from the grim taste in her mouth to the woman before her, she quirked an eyebrow at the pale woman.

'Don't think so.'

'Mich, I'm taking first watch. Don't argue.' Andrea sighed softly with a genuine smile. Receiving nothing but a grunt in response, Andrea let out a little victory chuckle, suddenly tossing the small empty cup at Michonne who caught it swiftly. 'But you can do the dishes.'

Michonne's face morphed into one of utter surprise for all of a second before she sucked her teeth, leaning back on her chair and raising a brow at Andrea, the blond simply smirked back.

She instantly threw her cup back. 'I did the dishes yesterday.' She drawled sassily.

Andrea's eyes widened with amusement before swiftly kicking her foot out against Michonne's chair causing the warrior to jerk forward to stop falling backwards.

'Mind my chair Goldilocks!'' Michonne teased with a wide smile, instantly kicking Andrea's chair startling the blonde.

'Oh go kill Bill already.' Andrea quipped back instantly with a smirk of her own before both dissolved into hushed laughter, the tension and stress of the day beginning to ease from their shoulders but not completely as both were still in hyper drive, tension slowly taking hold of their bodies as the quiet of the outside filled the inside.

'We'll be alright, right?' Andrea suddenly whispered, looking at Michonne with such crushingly hopeful eyes Michonne physically gulped.

She didn't know. She didn't know if they'd be alright, she didn't know where the herd went and she didn't really know what to do. She tore her eyes away from the blondes piercing blues unable to lie to her directly. 'Yeah, we'll be fine.'

Andrea nodded mutely, turning her attention to their belongings behind them, all scattered and unpacked. They had come too relaxed here; if they had to run they wouldn't be prepared. Suddenly she jumped up and strode over to their stuff with purpose, slightly shaky hands grabbing at items to shove them in their three bags. Michonne's eagle eyes watched as the blonde continued to pack frantically. When she accidently dropped a box of ammo, sending the many little bullets across the hard floor, Michonne stood up.

'Hey.' The warrior muttered, her hand coming out to take hold of Andrea's frantic hands. 'Calm down. We're fine. We're just fine.' She continued as her hands moved up to her shoulders, encouraging the blonde into a gentle embrace. Andrea pulled back almost instantly.

'We've become too complacent here. We need to be ready.' Andrea hurriedly explained as she continued to rummage over their belongings. Michonne's concern for the blonde continued to build as she watch the fear in Andrea's eyes grow bigger and bigger with every passing second.

'Andrea, enough,' Michonne suddenly snapped, her voice was chastising and dominant but the concern riddled between her words stilled Andrea instantly. 'That's better, come and sleep.' Michonne added even more softly, tugging slightly on Andrea's shirt.

Andrea allowed Michonne to tug her over to the bed before staring expectedly at her. Michonne's eyebrow raised comically one side.

'I told you, I'm taking first watch. You need to sleep Mich.' She illuminated with a small smile, rising on tiptoes and pressing a fleeting kiss to the darker woman's cheek, so fast Michonne could only squeak in response before Andrea had gently pushed her onto the bed and moved over to the chair.

Michonne watched as Andrea settled down on the old chair, binoculars ready and back rigid. The blonde looked so comical to the warrior woman at that moment, with her little girl curls bouncing around her pale face, her delicate features contorted into her best attempt at 'Michonne's warrior face' as she had called it once. Michonne struggled in suppressing a laugh as she muttered good night.

Every now and again Andrea's eyes would glance over Michonne's form, happy to see her friend sleeping. She had thought Michonne would be all 'super woman' tonight because of earlier but thankfully she seemed to fall asleep pretty quickly.

Every sound was a thunderclap in the quiet as Andrea kept sentinel at the window, however it was the sound of Michonne's steady breathing that kept drawing her attention. It felt as though her heartbeat had slowed until it beat in time with the rise and fall of the other woman's chest, her own breathing grew shallow and instep with the body it longed to lay next to. It took all Andrea had not to abandon post and just go over to her, to silently lay next to her, to feel her skin. Their nightly ritual had become Andrea's security blanket. She physically and emotionally craved her.

With a low angry growl at herself, Andrea stood up and stretched, tilting her head side to side to loosen the ache in her neck. Once again her eyes travelled to Michonne and she bit down, hard, on her lip.

'You could just go over to check on her quick. That's still doing your duty.' Amy's soft voice teased behind Andrea. The blonde gasped mutely, swiftly spinning around to see her beloved sister smiling with that mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Andrea smiled, turning her head back to Michonne briefly before turning back to her sister.

'I could...' She whispered with a smile only to find Amy had gone. She closed her eyes tightly, as she fondly remembered Amy's annoying ability to read Andrea like a book when it came to things like this. Amy had always been her voice of reason, and so Andrea didn't stop herself again and, on silent feet, turned with shimmery eyes back to the living; back to Michonne and the present.

Michonne's chest rose and fell lighter than butterfly wings, her broad nose blowing out short, steady, sleep heavy breaths. Her eyebrows knitted together anxiously and every now and then, the warrior woman would talk detachedly. At first that would wake Andrea, back when they first met. But after a while it stopped waking her, it became a part of Michonne; the woman who spoke so seldom awake spoke in her sleep. However as Andrea neared, Michonne remained quiet in her sleep. The blonde bent slightly until her golden locks dangled a few inches above Michonne's face, her intention had been to swiftly brush a kiss against her forehead but she didn't want to wake her. The sleeping woman mouth opened slightly as Andrea's name passed her lips, causing the blonde to jump back in surprise only to smile when she realised Michonne was still very much asleep.

'I'm here Mich.' she whispered, reluctantly returning to her post, determined not to get distracted again.

Michonne pulled at the wooden panels nailed to the door as the massive herd of walkers started to break in. They wouldn't budge, she couldn't get them loose. Beside her the blonde desperately grappled with the barricade tears of frustration and fear falling down her pale cheeks.

Behind them, the geeks were getting closer and closer.

'Come on!' Michonne pleased at the immovable planks of wood.

Andrea glanced back at the sleeping woman as she moaned in her sleep, the sound twisting her stomach in concern for the woman clearly having a nightmare. She stood up, stretching slightly, intending to wake the poor warrior up. She glanced back at the window just to check when her heart lurched so hard against her chest it felt as though several ribs had cracked. The herd was slowly filtering out from the trees.

'Shit!' Andrea squeaked in fear just as Michonne moaned again in her sleep.

For a terrifying moment Andrea couldn't physically move from the window as she continued to watch the walkers grow closer. Fear paralysed her as flashes of teeth and hands filled her mind.

The wood wouldn't budge and the walkers were overpowering them, despite how many Michonne beheaded with her katana furiously. Suddenly a loud piercing scream harpooned her heart as she saw a particularly horrifying walker grab Andrea and bite down savagely on her shoulder.

'No! Andrea!' Michonne screamed, fighting to get to the blonde even as hands grabbed at her shoulders. She could only watch as the beauty she had grown to love was slowly ended before her, bloody and brutal and painstakingly slow.

'Michonne!' Andrea called, shaking the dark woman slightly with trembling hands. 'Michonne we have to go.' She cried, moving a hand to cup at the warriors face. Michonne woke with a start as the feel of a hand on her face, she panted heavily, eyes blurring before coming in to focus on wide frightened blue ones.

'This isn't a dream is it?' Michonne muttered brokenly, knowing without needing Andrea to tell her that the herd was upon them. The blonde tried to cover a sharp sob as she pressed her forehead to Michonne's, hands coming to both grip and tug on the woman's shoulders desperately.

'No,' She muttered, 'No it's not, we've got to go Mich, we've got to go.' She pleaded, as she felt the warrior beneath her begin to stand in her desperate embrace.

Within seconds they had their belongings strapped to their backs; Michonne moved to the window and with a jolt took in the now bigger herd pressing up and around their house. She turned back to Andrea, blinking furiously to rid her mind of the nightmare she had just had.

'Come on. We'll go out back.' She ordered, pulling her katana out and shooting Andrea a look that spoke volumes before moving to gather her walkers.

The walkers began to struggle against the various different barricaded windows and doors, the knocking and scratching filling the house.

'Michonne...'Andrea whispered fearfully as they approached the back door with the dodgy lock, the front door started to break under the weight of walkers pressed against it.

'Shhh baby,' Michonne muttered softly trying to quell the fear she could hear laced between the blondes whimper, inwardly her heart was thrumming with dread with thoughts that her nightmare was just about to come true. She shook her head, she would not let anything happen to Andrea; she was going to get them out of here. A dozen hands smashed through a window somewhere in the house.

She didn't bother trying to get the panels of the door; instead she turned her back against the door, raising her leg high, she kicked backwards with the force of six stallions. The planks give way beneath the force and soon enough both were ripping the broken planks away, before Michonne gripped the damned lock between both hands and pulled as hard as she could.

It wouldn't budge. Andrea cupped her hands around Michonne's, pulling along with her, the first few walkers had managed to get through the broken front door.

'Stand back!' Andrea suddenly ordered, moving to the other side of the lock, she gripped her gun by the barrel end and whacked the butt of it against the lock, once, twice, three times as the lock finally moved a fraction of an inch. Michonne smiled widely, taking hold once more and tugged. The lock came loose, and both girls stood back, staring at the first couple of geeks making their way slowly down the hall.

'Let's go!'

Almost instantly walkers were upon them, and Andrea had to drive a knife up ones nose whilst Michonne beheaded two at once who were too close for comfort. She pulled her chained walkers closer to the two of them, looking at Andrea as if to say 'stay close' before they moved steadily away from their little house. Inside they could hear the herd had swarmed the place.

As they made their way through the woods, every now and then having to take out a walker who noticed them despite their chained walkers disguising their scent, both were physically shaking from the adrenalin and shock pumping through their veins. Finally Michonne came to a stop and tugged at Andrea's shirt as the blonde continued to walk past her in a trance like state.

Michonne wanted to say something to sooth her, she wanted to embrace the blonde and take comfort from the pale arms that would surely wrap around her tightly. But they needed to find somewhere secure for the night, as the adrenalin had worn slightly the freezing temperature became more and more noticeable.

She looked around her in the darkness, squinting up at the trees until she saw a promising one. She tilted her head in that direction and both made their way over silently.

Michonne tied her walkers around the trunk as Andrea stuffed their belongings around the reasonable hollow ditch around the base of the tree. She turned towards the trunk and weakly raised her arms to get a hold. She pulled herself up slightly before her jelly arms gave way and she slumped roughly against the trunk. Michonne watched as the blonde stifled a sob, trying vainly once more to pull herself up, her heart breaking for her. She gently came up behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder. Andrea flinched slightly before leaning back into the contact. As Michonne's other hand came up to her shoulder Andrea smiled with another small sob. It didn't matter how much she tried to pretend, she needed Michonne. She wasn't as strong and she wasn't as 'survival savvy' as her katana swinging companion; it was just the truth. But it was her comfort, her touch, her being that she needed more than she would ever realise.

'Can you help me up?' She asked softly.

'Always,' Michonne whispered against Andrea's ear as she cupped her hands together for Andrea to get a foot hold.

She easily lifted the blonde up, gently pushing on her thighs as she climbed shakily, a caressing push on her bottom wasn't needed but Michonne couldn't help herself.

'Trying to cop a feel Mich?' Andrea teased, turning with shimmering eyes and an outstretched hand to offer the blushing woman.

Michonne grumbled as she took the proffered hand. As soon as she shuffled next to Andrea she raised an eyebrow, 'Yes.' She smirked bluntly despite the burning she could feel on her cheeks. The frank comment earned a beautiful smile in return from the blonde, as she knew it would, allowing her a moment's peace together. Michonne knew any minute now the realisation of their situation would hit them and she dreaded the sadness she knew would overcome the blonde when it did- just like their first day.

A shiver suddenly tore through both as a strong wind blustered through the trees. Instinctively the two moved as close as they could until their bodies became a tangle of limbs and heads leaning against each other's shoulder.

The tears did come, silent but Michonne could feel the slight hitch in the blonde's breath every now and again. She increased her hold around Andrea's waist and soothed wordless sounds against her pale curls. When her own eyes watered Michonne tensed, when suddenly, as if she had a sixth sense, Andrea turned round slightly, and pressed a kiss to Michonne's cheek. Michonne bit down on her pride and let the lone tear fall. Andrea had kissed it away before she regretted her show of weakness.

'We're alright, we'll be alright.' Andrea whispered reassuringly and Michonne grunted in response, shuffling lower into the trunk with Andrea, she closed her eyes and let their joint heartbeats calm her frantic mind.

Eventually the smaller woman fell asleep, despite trying so hard to fight it, her breathing slowed down as her head became heavy against Michonne's chest.

'I hope you're right baby.' She whispered, her hand absentmindedly stroking the pale curls as she slightly increased her hold on the woman who meant the world to her.

Chapter eight coming soon, I hope you liked this chapter and continue to enjoy the story...and just to explain why Andrea is sorta fighting against Michonne's protectiveness, it's not because I think she's weak, she's anything but, in the show I saw Andrea as one of the strongest woman, but she sorta suffered from a stubborn ferocity to prove that she can cope, that she can do anything.. When Amy died, she had to be the one to shoot her, and when lowering her into the grave she pleads with Dale that she can do it, it's about proving herself. I intend to have her come into her own when she realises that she is strong, just in other ways, and she can offer an vital part to the duo in other ways. I hope that makes sense :P

Frailly :)