Surviving All Out War (BOOK FIVE IN THE SURVIVING THE WALKING DEAD SERIES)

Rehab

RICK'S POV

     "Rick, you need to calm down." Michonne softly spoke.

     "He brought 'er back." I grumbled.

     "He's keeping her locked up in her cell, what's the harm in that?"

     "She should be dead."

     "Yeah, about that-" Michonne folded her arms across her chest. "That was a bullshit call."

     "What?"

     "You put a hit on a pregnant woman. Do you not see how fucked up that is?"

     "I don't care."

     "You don't?" Michonne scoffed. "Do you hear yourself? What if that was me? What if it was Maggie?" I didn't respond. "She's carrying Daryl's babies. To him, blood doesn't matter, those are his kids. You're okay with killing two, innocent, unborn children?"

     "They're Negan's-"

     "And that makes them dangerous? Since when was being an asshole genetic?" Michonne slowly walked over to me and placed her hand against my cheek. "You kill those babies, you kill Michaela, you're taking away the only thing that keeps Daryl going. He is alive because he fought for it. He's alive for Michaela and the babies. You kill them, and Daryl will kill you. That's a fact."

     "You think I should just let 'er stay? After everythin' she did?"

     "I think you should trust Daryl. He's never put us in harm's way before. He still loves her, thinks she can change into the woman she was before she married Negan."

     "It's a waste of fuckin' time, if you ask me."

     "What's the harm in him trying? Worst case scenario, she doesn't change and we eventually kill her."

     "And the best case scenario?"

     "Best case, she changes."

     "What if she doesn't? What's our best case then?"

     "Leverage." Michonne smiled. " We need her alive, Rick. You know I'm right." I let out a sigh, reluctantly agreeing. "Good, now please, go make amends with her. You don't have to like her, you don't have to forgive her, but you do have to get used to living in the same community with her without trying to kill her, okay?"

     "I dunno if I can do that, Michonne. She betrayed us, I can't stop thinkin' about killin' 'er."

     "In her defense, she thought we betrayed her first. We should've told her, we could've trusted her with keeping it a secret, but we didn't do that. She's right, this is on us. Daryl doesn't think it's too late to fix everything, and I trust him. If we get what we need out of her and she still wants to be with Negan, then we wait until the babies are born and then we can do whatever we want with them. Maggie can help keep them fed."

     "Alright." I sighed. "I hope ya know what you're doin'." I walked over to Judith and gave her a kiss on the top of her head.

     "Can I go see Michaewa now?" Judith asked.

     "Not yet, sweetheart."

     "Why?"

     "Michaela is-" I paused as I tried to think of what to say.

     "She's sick." Michonne answered.

     "Sick?" Judith asked.

     "Yeah, she hasn't been feelin' good for the past few weeks." I explained. "I gotta keep 'er separate from everyone, gotta keep everyone safe."