It was the worst battle Rick Grimes had ever seen. It put his last battle with the Governor to shame, making it look like an inadequate practice run for this one.
The human threat had been serious but nothing like the walkers that poured in through the fallen walls of what should have been a safe place.
Hundreds of walkers were now in the streets and there were hundreds more pressing to get in. It seemed like every walker in Virginia had come to their gates. It was enough to make Rick wonder if there wasn't some form if communication that the walkers had that humans weren't aware of, some kind of hive knowledge that told them the buffet was open. All you can eat while supplies last.
He'd done awful things. He'd been unable to save Jessie and her sons. Even worse he'd had to hack Jessie's arm off to save Carl. She'd been panicked as walkers began to devour her and had latched onto his son with a death grip. The look in her eyes of pain, fear, betrayal, as she been torn apart, had left him shaken.
The ammo was gone. There were no more gunshots ringing through the air. There was only the screams of those being eaten, the wet sound of bodies being ripped apart and devoured, bony hands banging on houses to get in at the terrified people taking cover inside. There was the sound of breaking glass and splintering wood. There were grunts from those still fighting with knives, axes, machetes, and one single woman with a sword. Everything came together to make a symphony from he'll that could only be pleasing to the devil's ears.
Rick did the only thing he could do. He kept swinging. He was exhausted. He was covered in gore and sweat but he kept going. He had to. He couldn't give up. He couldn't stop. Carl and Judith's lives literally depended on it.
"This way!"
Daryl was motioning toward the bell tower. He saw Carl inside, Judith in his arms, crying in fear. There were others. Maggie, Glenn, and Sasha.
"Michonne," Rick said, struggling to breathe.
She moved forward, still taking out walkers as she came. They were close to the tower, near the fallen gate, when he rose up. One man with a gun, one of the initial attackers. He aimed at Michonne and fired. One round, then two, then three, before the gun just clicked, empty.
Every shot hit home. Two in the stomach, one in the chest.
"No!"
Rick wasn't the only one to cry out that word in heartfelt agony. Daryl and Carl, others in the bell tower. She stood there, her eyes locked on Rick's. This was it, the end, and she kept her gaze on him.
"Run," she whispered.
Walkers were drawn their way but damn if he'd leave her to be eaten. He rushed her way as she went to her knees, caught her as she slumped forward.
"No, no, no..." he wept, the word useless but repeatedly falling from his lips, as though saying it often enough would undo what had happened. Daryl helped him carry her to the bell tower entrance where Glenn yanked open the door.
It was hard to carry her in the dark but they managed. There wasn't a lot of room left in the tower but they made space to lie Michonne on her back.
"Michonne..."
"I love you," she said. She was fading so fast.
"I love You too. I should have told you sooner. I'm sorry."
He wasn't even sure she heard the last words. She was gone, that light that was her life gone, forever.
Weeping filled the tower but none wept harder
than Rick Grimes. For the second time he'd lost a woman he'd truly loved. For
the second time she'd died with him taking for granted that they would have
time to work everything out.
Sasha had, as quietly and gently as she could, pierced Michonne's skull in the back, somewhere unnoticeable, ensuring Michonne wouldn't return, before going back out to fight.
"Rick? Can you hear me?"
Eric knelt before him.
"What?"
"There's not many walkers left. If you want to--"
Rick lunged to his feet, startling Carl and Eric. He stomped down the tower steps and outside where Michonne's katana lay among the dead. He grabbed it and looked at the nearest walker.
"Not you," he said, his voice a savage growl. "You stay."
He'd gotten good with a machete, and he'd closely watched Michonne use her sword. He didn't possess her grace but he wasn't a klutz, either. Rick turned, swinging the blade, and it sliced through the walkers legs with the kind of smooth balance he'd never imagined a blade could possess. He cut the walkers hands off, leaving it powerless on the ground.
"You," he said to Eric. "Make sure that one stays alive. I want it to starve and rot."
Eric just nodded.
Gripping Michonne's blade tightly Rick spent the next hour practicing, imitating Michonne's form from memory and using his own hard earned machete skills to get a feel for how the blade worked. It was his sword now. He was going to carry it in her honor until he met his own end to this brutal world.
By the time he and the others stopped swinging
there wasn't a walker left and there weren't many people, either. He sheathed
his sword, hung it on his back, and went to retrieve Michonne.
"I'll prepare her," Maggie said. "I'll wash and dress her."
"I'll help," Carol said, and Maggie nodded before she broke down and Carol wrapped her in her embrace, weeping with her.
Rick watched the scene, numb.
"Why didn't I tell her how much I loved her?"
Aaron squeezed Rick's shoulder. "You thought you had more time."
The smile that tugged at Rick's mouth was bitter, twisted.
"It's a mistake I won't make again."
"Good. Next time, tell her--"
"No. I mean loving someone. It's a mistake I won't make again."
He turned away while the family watched in silence. He went into his house and up to his room where he lay on the bed, exhausted and yet burning with rage. Sleep found him fast with dreams of Lori and Michonne standing together, so close to him yet forever out of his reach. That was all he had of either of them now, dreams, and he wouldn't allow yet another woman to join them in their flowing white robes and smiling faces and understanding eyes filled with love. No, they were the only two women he would ever allow himself to love, lose, and mourn.
