"I told ya, it's fine." I argued as Eugene poked and prodded at my stump. "It's a lil' sensitive, but I expected that. I mean, he lopped off my arm, severed nerve endin's—"
"I just wanted to be sure," Eugene insisted.
"You ain't no doctor, Eugene, why do ya need to know how it is?"
"Besides the fact that I care? Because you're the only one who survived that night and I never got a chance to look your uh...appendage over."
"I said ya could experiment on Harper, not me," I laughed and pulled my stump away and strapped my prosthetic back into place. "Can we please get back to the walker situation?"
"Indeed. The walker situation, as you call it, may seem anomalous, but rest assured, that is not the case."
"Care to explain? Because all I got out of that was 'blah blah, I know big words.'" Before Eugene could speak, an explosion echoed off in the distance.
"What the fuck was that?"
"Us taking care of the anomalous walker situation," Eugene smiled. "Rosita and your friend Arat are out there with explosives, diverting the herd."
"So...there's a herd?"
"Nothing too unmanageable, definitely not the herd of Alexandria bad, but an adequately sized one." A faint siren began to go off in the distance. "Once the herd turns, Jerry is there to keep it diverted away from the work sites along with one of the other Saviors on walker duty."
"Who?"
"I...I'm not sure." Eugene thought for a moment. "Regina or Justin."
"JUSTIN? Y'ALL PUT THAT KIND OF TRUST IN JUSTIN?"
"W-We've been puttin' a lot of trust in the Saviors on this project."
"The project, yes, but not patrol!" I quickly stood up and placed my knife attachment onto my prosthetic.
"What are you doin'?" Eugene asked.
"I'm gonna talk to Rick and get some answers. If it ain't Regina, I don't trust it." I stormed out of Eugene's tent and began my search for Rick, finding him off by the docks with a few others. "Rick!" I called out as I made my way towards him. He wiped the sweat from his brow and smiled before walking towards me.
"I thought I gave ya the day off?" Rick asked.
"Yeah, call it overtime. Who is the third person on walker patrol?"
"Walker patrol?"
"The fucks out there divertin' the fuckin' heard!"
"Calm down, Michaela, there's no need to shout."
"There just might be, now tell me who the third person is."
"Well, it's Rosita and Arat together, Jerry is by himself, and Justin."
"JUSTIN?"
"I didn't trust 'em to work around Daryl for today."
"YA SHOULDN'T HAVE TRUSTED 'EM ON ANYTHIN' IMPORTANT, PERIOD!"
"What are ya talkin' about?"
"Rick." Alden spoke up as he rushed towards us. "Michaela, what are you doing here?"
"Talkin' to Rick about who he allows to do important jobs," I answered. "You?"
"Carol asked me to check up on the Saviors who've gone AWOL. I just heard back from the Sanctuary and none of the guys who walked off made it back home."
"What?" Rick asked.
"Piper Two do you read?" A voice called out over the radio.
"None of 'em?"
"No, and some of them had families," Alden informed. "One guy had a new kid; there's no way they up and left them."
"Piper Two, please respond!" The radio continued.
"So, what do you think's goin' on?" Rick asked.
"Ain't it obvious?" I scoffed, they've either gone off on their own, died on the way there, or they're plannin' somethin' against us."
"These are the people you vouched for, Michaela."
"I didn't vouch for all of 'em, I said some of 'em had no choice and were innocent, and I stand by that."
"Well, we disarmed the Sanctuary for a reason."
"Which is another reason why the Sanctuary is getting worried," Alden added.
"Piper Two, do you read?!" The radio continued.
"There are more of them here than from anywhere else, and they're scared. If they wind up deciding that they're safer back home, this entire thing's a wash."
"Well, I'll make sure they're protected," Rick insisted.
"They work for you, you protect them. Who's that sound like to you, Rick?" Rick furrowed his eyebrows at Alden, he had stepped over the line...but he was right. I've said it from the beginning, Rick and Negan are more alike than they realize.
"Piper Two, come in! Do you copy? Please respond!" Rick finally picked up his radio and butted into the frequency.
"Bertie, what's goin' on out there?" Rick grumbled.
"That second siren isn't going off." Bertie answered. "If the herd isn't pulled soon, they're gonna run right into our crew."
"Goddamn it," Rick grumbled.
"What did I tell ya?" I scoffed. "Fucker's worthless on important shit. Next time, keep 'em on construction or give 'em latrine duty."
"Not the time, Michaela." Rick turned to Alden. "Go back to camp and gather some people and get to the wood yard as fast as you can. If that second siren doesn't sound, they're gonna need our help."
"Got it," Alden nodded and ran off towards the camp as Rick ran in the opposite direction, I instantly followed.
"Michaela, stay in camp!"
"I'm comin' to help ya," I argued.
"Michaela—"
"My friends are out there, Rick, my husband is there, and I ain't gonna just sit back and hope for the best! I'm comin', and ya can't stop me." Rick let out a frustrated sigh, but stopped arguing. I could hear the walker snarls grow louder as we neared the camp, rapid footsteps behind us told me that the others had caught up with us, and Alden brought a lot of arms. "Everyone, mind your aim, it's gonna be close quarters!" I could hear screaming in the distance, causing my heart to sink. Was someone bit? I hoped no one was...I hoped it wasn't Daryl. A twinge of relief filled me as I caught sight of Daryl, but he was helping someone whose arm was covered in blood. "Aaron..."
Bertie was the first one to fire off an arrow, which pierced the skull of the walker that was right behind Daryl and Aaron. Daryl and Aaron hobbled over towards us and watched as everyone made quick work of taking out the herd. "What are ya doin' here?" Daryl asked.
"Heard there was trouble," I answered.
"Who was on that second siren?"
"Never mind that, Daryl. Ya need to get Aaron to Enid."
"Enid?" Siddiq has been training Enid to become a doctor, which is a good idea, seeing we've only got him. He can't be everywhere at once, and he knows that, so he's slowly training at least one person at every homestead to become a doctor, Enid is his first student.
"Siddiq left."
"Fuckin' Christ," Daryl grumbled.
"Ya gotta have faith in 'er, Daryl. She's been doin' good, accordin' to Siddiq."
"I'd feel more comfortable if ya were there."
"I gotta stay and help with the herd."
"It don't gotta be you all the time," Daryl argued.
"Exactly, Daryl. It don't gotta be me all the time." Daryl didn't respond. "She'll do great, Daryl. Go, Aaron needs to get that looked at immediately before he passes out from blood loss." Daryl reluctantly nodded and hurried off alongside Aaron back to camp. I turned around and surveyed the area briefly before running in to help. I ran over to some kid from the Sanctuary and helped him free the mules. "Get 'em out of here, now!" The kid nodded and frantically pulled the mules off site. I turned and saw a walker lumbering towards me. I lifted my blade, ready to strike...but I froze. If I killed a walker, what would the others think? That I was doing my job? That I hadn't changed? What if killing this walker unleashed the urges that I still fought to this day? Have I changed? Or was I just wearing a disguise that was itching to come off?
The walker's head suddenly erupted in a plume of red and black fetid mist before collapsing to the ground just a mere few feet in front of me. "What are you doing?" Alden exclaimed as he pried his hatchet out of the back of the walker's skull.
"I-I-I don't—"
"You need to help us fight or leave, Michaela."
"I can't kill 'em, Alden," I whimpered, looking down at my blade. "I-I can't—"
"Hey, look at me." Alden gently placed his hand against my cheek, forcing me to look at him. "It's okay, we've got this. Go back to camp."
"I'm so sorry, Alden."
"Don't worry about it, we'll talk later at camp, okay?" I gently nodded. "Now, go." I nodded once more and hurried off the site. Once in camp, I could hear Aaron's screams coming from the med tent. I slowly made my way inside and saw Aaron lying on the cot with Daryl hovering beside him, pulling the tourniquet as tight as he can; Enid stood off to the side looking down at her blade in hesitation.
"What can I do?" I softly spoke up. Enid looked up at me with relief, and yet reluctance. "Don't worry, I'm not here to take over."
"You're not?" Enid asked.
"Nah, you've got this, Enid. Besides, what help am I? I've got one hand. You can do this Enid, Siddiq wouldn't have trained ya if he didn't think you could do it." Enid gave me a nod. "Now, what can I do?"
"His arm was crushed by a log and we have to amputate it. I can't give him anything for pain in time, so you can help Aaron get through this." I nodded and walked onto the other side of Aaron and took his hand into mine.
"Michaela..."
"Ya helped me when I was in labor, only seemed fittin' to help you," I smiled.
"What are ya doin' here? I thought ya were helpin' the work site?" Daryl asked.
"Turns out I wasn't much help." I looked down at Aaron as he looked up at me with pleading eyes.
"Does it hurt?" Aaron asked.
"Ya want me to sugar coat it?" Aaron shook his head. "It hurts like a bitch, but you'll pass out soon enough and won't feel a thing."
"Okay, you could've sugar coated it a little," Aaron faintly smiled and turned to Enid. "You can do it," Aaron nodded and Enid began to cut. Aaron's screams of agony made my stomach churn, He squeezed my hand tightly, but I squeezed it right back.
"Ya got this, Aaron, stay strong." I kept uttering this in his ear. I wasn't sure if he could hear me or if he was even comprehending what I was saying, but it needed to be said. Aaron was the strongest out of us all and I knew, without a doubt, he'd pull through this. Besides, unlike me, he wasn't infected with this wound, his survival rate was already better than mine was when I lost my arm. Daryl was doing a great job keeping the tourniquet tight for only small amounts of blood was seeping from his wound. Aaron finally passed out from the pain and, a few moments later, Enid had his arm removed and placed it in a nearby bin. "Keep the arm."
"Why?" Enid asked.
"Old wive's tale. Bury the limb, ya wont' get fantom limbs. I didn't get a chance to bury mine." Enid nodded and resumed working on Aaron's arm.
"Michaela, I need ya to take over." Daryl mumbled.
"Daryl, don't do anythin' stupid."
"Just take over." Reluctantly, I released Aaron's hand, made my way over to Daryl, and took the tourniquet from him and watched as he stormed out of the tent. A few moments later, sounds of shouting and fighting could be heard from just a few yards away.
"That's the definition of stupid," I scoffed.
"Is he in the wrong?" Enid asked.
"Nah, Justin deserves it. He's needed his ass handed to 'em for a while." The room fell silent for a moment.
"Thank you...for having confidence in me," Enid mumbled. "To be honest, I wasn't sure if I could do this or not."
"Siddiq is smart and so are you. If he picked you to be his student, he obviously saw great potential in ya. Hell, he trusted Carl, so ya know he's a good judge in character."
"I miss him."
"Yeah...me too."
"What was his final moments like?"
"It was...full of love. We talked about our good memories, I sang to 'em, reassured 'em that I wouldn't let 'em turn. He was...at peace."
"You really think so?"
"Yeah."
"Was it because of you?"
"Somewhat. He was at peace with dyin', he was at peace that he wrote to everyone so he could get out what he wanted to say to everyone, but for me..."
"He was at peace knowing you'd make sure what he wanted would get done."
"Yeah," I sighed.
"I don't like it...but I gotta admit, some of the Saviors aren't that bad." A faint smile crept onto Enid's face, causing me to laugh. "What?"
"Ya like one of 'em, don't ya?"
"No!" Enid blushed.
"Don't lie to me, girl, your face is more red than a pissed off Abraham."
"Okay, okay," Enid sighed happily. "I do kind of like one of them, but I thought it'd be too soon, you know? I mean, after Carl—"
"Stop."
"What?"
"Carl wouldn't want ya to do that to yourself, Enid. If ya like 'em, go after 'em."
"Oh, I don't know about that."
"Who is it?"
"Promise not to tell him?"
"On my life." I crossed my heart with my knife attachment and smiled.
"Alden."
"Awwww."
"Michaela!" Enid laughed.
"I'm sorry, but he's so sweet and cute, y'all would make a great couple."
"Really?"
"Absolutely! Now, are ya just nervous about you makin' the first move?"
"I'm just used to the man making the first move."
"Fuck that!"
"Why? Isn't it, you know...traditional?"
"Enid, if ya haven't noticed, we're not livin' a traditional lifestyle," I motioned to the space around us. "I mean, ya tell me the last time that the dead comin' back to life was considered traditional."
"Can't say it ever has been."
"Because life ain't meant to be be traditional, Enid. Be unconventional, break the cycle!"
"How? I don't think I could just come right out and tell him how I feel."
"So flirt then."
"Flirt?"
"Yeah. Say nice things to 'em, find special things ya think he'd like and give it to 'em as a gift, give 'em a wink or a cute smile once in a while. Hell, that's how I won Daryl over way back then."
"Really?"
"Well...kinda. We joked a lot, I flirted a lot, but what won him over was me planting a big fat wet one on 'em."
"Eww!" Enid laughed.
"I'm not sayin' kiss 'em, just flirt a lil', trust me."
"Well...okay," Enid smiled. "Thanks...you should go check on Daryl."
"Will ya be okay without me holdin' the tourniquet?"
"Yeah, I just clamped off the blood vessels," Enid motioned to his soon-to-be stump. "I just gotta seal them, shave his bones down to a smooth surface, and seal him up."
"What about the nerves?"
"Unfortunately, we don't have the medical means to seal them. So, just like we couldn't do for you, Aaron will have to manage."
"He's strong," I smiled. "He'll be fine." I released the tourniquet and smiled when no blood escaped. I gently placed my hand on Enid's shoulder and gave her a smile. "Ya did great...doc." A smile plastered across Enid's face and I exited the room, finding Justin on the ground in a bloody heap, Carol holding back Daryl, and everyone standing around, watching in horror.
"We'll deal with him, but not like this," Carol insisted.
"There's only one way to deal with these assholes," Daryl grumbled and yanked his arm away from Carol before storming away. Carol let out a sigh and turned to look at me.
"Can you deal with him? And I mean his wounds, not give him the Patrick treatment."
"Yeah," I nodded, biting my tongue. "Sure." Without another word, Carol returned to her tent. I let out a sigh and walked over to Justin, extending my hand to him. "C'mon, dipshit, let's get ya cleaned up." Reluctantly, Justin took my hand and staggered to his feet.
"Why do you wanna help me?" Justin asked as he spat out a wad of blood to ground.
"Because, Justin, if ya haven't noticed, I'm just like you."
"Bullshit," Justin scoffed.
"Look around, Justin," I quietly hissed. "These are my people, but to some of 'em...I'm still an outsider...and I always will be."