Andrea and Michonne moved through the forest for most of the night, narrowly avoiding a few close calls along the way.
Herds of walkers were migrating from Atlanta for some unknown reason, forcing them to take long detours.
They eventually came upon a small blue house.
Michonne picked the lock, stepping inside first. Andrea followed right after her, locking the door behind them.
Michonne told her to stay put while she cleared the rest of the house, but Andrea refused, walking past her toward the stairs with her knife ready.
Michonne gave her a look but followed. Andrea went room to room, checking each one.
Her breath caught when she saw a bloody baby crib in one of them. She rubbed her belly gently.
Michonne patted her shoulder to get her attention. "Let's go," she said.
Andrea nodded, walking back toward the stairs. Michonne lingered a moment, staring at the crib with a somber expression...
Remembering her own baby boy for a moment, before closing the door firmly and rejoining Andrea.
Downstairs, Andrea was in the kitchen, rummaging through cabinets.
She gathered all the canned food on the counter, selecting a can of SpaghettiOs, popping it open, and scooping some out with her finger.
Michonne silently grabbed a can of baked beans, opened it, and joined her.
They ate together in silence, a small flicker of comfort between them.
When they finished, Andrea yawned. "I need to sleep," she said, heading to the couch and collapsing onto it. Michonne took a chair beside her.
After a long stretch of silence, Michonne finally asked, "How are we going to find Joe?"
Andrea looked over. "I don't know."
"Is there anywhere the group would meet up?"
Andrea stayed quiet for a long moment, thinking.
"The only place I can think of," she said finally, "is the roadblock where we left food for the lost kids."
Michonne nodded. "Then we go there. See if they left any clues."
"Yeah… After we rest."
Michonne leaned back, closing her eyes. Andrea smirked to herself. 'Why did she ask how to find Joe and not the group?'
---
A few hours later, Andrea woke to the sound of movement. Michonne was shoving cans into a blue backpack.
Andrea sat up, but her hand shot to her mouth and she rushed into the kitchen, vomiting into the sink.
Michonne followed, gathering Andrea's hair in one hand until the retching stopped.
"Thanks," Andrea muttered, wiping her mouth.
Michonne nodded. "Ready to go?" Andrea nodded, grabbing her knife and bag.
They stepped out into the cool morning air and followed the driveway to a narrow country road.
They walked for miles until they reached town, passing the bar, now burned to the ground.
Nearby they found a small baby-blue Toyota Corolla. Michonne picked the lock in seconds, but Andrea pushed her aside with a smirk and hotwired the car.
As the engine turned over, Michonne asked, "Where'd you learn that?"
Andrea grinned. "Joe."
Michonne's face didn't change. Andrea frowned slightly at the lack of reaction.
Then sighed, putting the car in gear.
Michonne smirked slightly, amused at her pouting expression.
---
Twenty-five minutes later, they reached the roadblock.
Michonne spotted fresh tire tracks in the grass. "They were here recently. Let's look around."
They found a painted message on another car.
Andrea/Michonne... We're headed toward Fort Benning. We'll leave a trail. We love you. Hope to see you soon!
P.S. Erase this message after reading. Don't let anyone else follow us.
Andrea smiled through tears. "We'd better get moving."
"Yeah. Let's not keep them waiting," Michonne replied.
She scrubbed the message away and grabbed the supplies left for them before jogging back to the car.
---
By nightfall they had only made it a hundred miles.
The main roads were blocked with wreckage or herds, forcing them onto backroads.
Spotting a quiet neighborhood, they pulled in and parked in front of a two-story house.
Michonne made quick work of the lock. The house seemed empty, until they heard a loud bang from the basement door.
They exchanged a glance. Andrea opened it slowly, Michonne poised with her katana.
Nothing came up, but the noise continued. Andrea shined a flashlight down the stairs.
Michonne descended first, Andrea close behind.
Shelves of boxes filled the basement, some labeled, others not. The sound became a muffled whimper.
They followed it to a locked metal door. It was locked with a chain and padlock. Andrea scanned the basement while Michonne picked the lock.
Inside, they saw a small Asian girl strapped to a bed, gagged and trembling.
Andrea rushed forward, cutting her free.
The girl scrambled into a corner, eyes wide with terror.
Her gaze shifted behind Andrea just as footsteps approached.
Michonne spun and drove her blade through a woman's chest.
It was a bald, middle-aged woman with strange sun tattoos around her eyes and religious scarring on her arms.
The woman dropped her knife, choking on blood. Michonne yanked her katana free and finished her with a swift strike to the head.
Andrea and the girl stared at the corpse.
Andrea crouched and wrapped the girl in a hug. "What's your name, sweetie?" Andrea asked.
"…Clementine."
Andrea smiled. "That's a beautiful name."
Meanwhile, Michonne stepped out of the roomand searched boxes. She found some clothes she thought would fit the girl.
Going back in the room, she handed them over to Andrea.
Andrea held them out to Clem, "Will these fit?" Clem nodded, starting to get dressed.
Andrea and Michonne introduced themselves to her.
When they asked if she wanted to come with them, Clementine nodded.
Andrea lifted her into her arms. Clem froze for a second before relaxing.
Upstairs, they settled in a bedroom for the night. Clem fell asleep between them, though she shook in her dreams.
Michonne noticed this and gently stroked her hair. Clem stopped shaking, murmuring incoherently.
"I miss you, Lee,"
...
Clementine woke the next morning, sitting up automatically.
She rubbed her eyes, blinking at the two women still asleep on either side of her.
Then it all came rushing back...
How they had saved her from that crazy lady with the sun tattoos.
The memories made her chest tighten. The rituals performed on her in preperation.
She began to shake, small tremors running through her arms. The movement stirred Micpreparation.
Michonne studied her for a moment before reaching over and pulling her into a gentle hug.
Clementine stiffened at first, but then slowly melted into it.
"You're up early," Michonne murmured, glancing toward the window. "Rest a little longer. I promise I won't let anything happen to you."
Clem nodded, pressing her cheek into Michonne's chest.
Her big eyes blinked once before closing again, her breathing slowing as Michonne idly brushed her hair.
Michonne looked down at her, an unexpected ache in her chest.
'I'd forgotten what it was like… to be depended on.'
---
The sun's rays eventually cut through the curtains, waking Clem again.
She sat up, only to panic when she saw the bed empty.
Heart pounding, she jumped off the bed and bolted out of the room.
Her bare feet thumping against the wooden floor as she raced down the stairs.
Relief washed over her when she saw Michonne and Andrea in the kitchen, working over a small stove with canned goods scattered on the counter.
She pulled a chair out at the island and climbed onto it. She noticed the gun and ammo boxes on the island.
Andrea turned at the sound of the chair legs scraping.
"How are you, sweetheart?" Andrea asked with a warm smile. "Did you sleep well?"
Clem gave a small nod. "Yes," she said meekly.
Andrea grabbed a plate, moving the gun to the side, setting it in front of her. "Here's some potato hash and fried spam."
Clementine stared at it for a second, Andrea silently worrying she wouldn't like it, but then Clem took a bite.
Her eyes brightened, and she quickly took another forkful.
Andrea let out a quiet sigh of relief. Michonne's lips twitched into the smallest smile.
They ate together in calm silence, with Michonne and Andrea gently prodding Clem into talking a little more about herself.
---
When breakfast was done, they packed the rest of the canned goods into the blue backpack.
Minutes later, they were in the Corolla, buckled up, and rolling out of the neighborhood.
The car disappeared down the street.
From the shadow of a porch, a pair of eyes tracked them.
Across the road, a figure shifted in the treeline.
Half a dozen men and women stood scattered in the quiet.
All of them had the same sun tattoos encircling their eyes and scripture-like scars carved into their arms.
They watched in silence as the car turned out of sight. One of them whispered, "They took the sacrifice."
The Corolla's tires hummed against the cracked asphalt, the late-morning sun turning the horizon into a blinding haze.
Andrea kept one hand on the wheel, the other draped lazily over the shifter, but her eyes were always moving between the mirrors, road, and treeline.
Michonne sat in the passenger seat, her katana resting on her legs.
Clementine sat quietly in the back, hugging the blue backpack like it was a shield.
They'd been driving for maybe twenty minutes when Michonne's head tilted slightly.
"…We're being followed," she said quietly.
Andrea glanced at the rearview mirror. Two cars back, half-hidden by the curve of the road, a beat-up black pickup stayed locked on their speed.
"Maybe they're just going the same way," Andrea said, but her tone had no conviction.
"Maybe," Michonne murmured. "Or maybe not."
---
The pickup closed the distance faster now. Clementine's fingers dug into the backpack straps.
"It's them," she whispered, her voice trembling.
Andrea's jaw clenched. "The tattoo freaks?"
Clem nodded.
Andrea's foot pressed harder on the gas, the Corolla's engine whining in protest.
The pickup roared behind them, then a second vehicle appeared ahead.
An old station wagon swerving to block most of the road.
Andrea's eyes widened. "Roadblock."
Michonne's katana slid off her lap. "Punch through or turn."
Andrea swore under her breath and jerked the wheel.
The Corolla shot off the road, bouncing violently over the grassy shoulder.
The pickup swerved after them, spitting gravel.
---
They cut through an overgrown field, tall weeds slapping against the car, until a rusted wire fence loomed ahead.
"Hold on!" Andrea shouted.
The Corolla smashed through the fence, the metal tangling in the bumper as they tore across an old farmstead.
The pickup tried to follow but clipped one of the posts, skidding sideways.
Andrea used the moment to angle for the narrow dirt lane on the far side.
Just as they hit it, a figure stepped out from behind a tree.
A bald man with sun tattoos around his eyes, raising a shotgun.
Michonne's door flew open before the car even stopped. She hit the ground running, using the cars momentum.
The katana flashed in the sunlight.
The man barely got the barrel up before she cut through him in one clean motion, his body folding in two directions at once.
She yanked the door open again and dropped into the passenger seat. "Go."
---
Andrea floored it, the Corolla kicking up a trail of dust behind them.
Clementine stared out the back window as the pickup roared after them again, two more figures climbing into the bed with rifles in hand.
One raised his weapon. The rear windshield spiderwebbed as the first shot rang out.
Andrea swerved hard, barely keeping control of the vehicle.
Michonne twisted in her seat, sword balanced in one hand while she reached for the pistol Andrea kept in the door.
Clementine ducked low, hands over her ears as another shot punched through the trunk.
Andrea's knuckles were white on the wheel. "We're not shaking them this time."
Michonne chambered a round. "Then we stop running."
The dirt lane spilled them out into a small, forgotten town, just a handful of leaning brick buildings and boarded-up shops.
Andrea skidded the Corolla around the first corner, tires squealing on faded asphalt.
She was hoping to lose them in the tight streets, but the pickup was right there, engine howling.
"Find us an exit!" Andrea barked, eyes scanning for a clear route.
Michonne's gaze flicked to the cracked windows above. Movement. Shadows.
"They're not just behind us," she said grimly.
---
The first shot came from the rooftops, a bullet hitting the headrest, inches from Andrea's head.
She jerked the wheel, swerving past a rusted-out sedan. More gunfire erupted, echoing between the buildings.
Bullets punched through the Corolla's frame, shattering glass.
Andrea slammed the brakes. "Out! Now!"
Clementine barely had time to grab the backpack before Michonne yanked her into the street.
Andrea slid across the hood, shotgun in hand.
The pickup screeched to a halt at the far end of the block, cultists spilling out.
More of them appeared from the alleys... all marked with those sun tattoos, their arms covered in the same scars.
---
"They were waiting for us," Andrea growled.
Michonne's katana gleamed. "Then we cut through."
The first man lunged from the side, machete raised. Michonne stepped into him, blade slicing clean through his shoulder into his chest.
She shoved the body aside and kicked a second attacker in the knee, sending him sprawling before she ended him with a downward strike.
Andrea fired once, the shotgun blast ripping a hole in a tattooed woman's chest.
She spun, racking the pump, and blasted another who was closing in on Clementine.
Clem scrambled behind a lamppost, clutching her pack and covering her ears.
---
A cultist rushed Andrea from behind, tackling her hard into the hood of a parked truck.
Her shotgun clattered to the pavement. He slammed her head down once, twice...
Finally, she jammed her thumb into his eye and wrenched a knife from his belt.
She drove it into his neck, hot blood spraying across her arms.
"Andrea!" Michonne's warning came just as another man with a bat charged her.
Andrea rolled, snatching up her shotgun just in time to blast him mid-swing. His body tearing apart and slumping ti the ground.
---
They were surrounded now. Shouts in some half-religious chant echoed in the street, and more boots pounded toward them from both ends.
Michonne grabbed Clementine's arm. "We move. Now!"
Andrea spotted an alley to the left, narrow enough to slow the pickup.
She fired down the street to force the cultists back, then shoved Clem ahead of her.
They ran, feet pounding over broken glass and trash.
A figure lunged from a doorway.
Michonne's katana flashed, and the way was clear.
---
The alley spat them out behind an old hardware store. Andrea spotted a rusted delivery van with the keys still dangling in the ignition.
"In!" she shouted.
Michonne threw the sliding door open and all but tossed Clementine inside.
Andrea jumped behind the wheel, the engine coughing to life.
They tore through the back lot, smashing through a chain-link gate.
In the rearview, cultists were spilling into the alley, some firing wildly as they gave chase.
One bullet punched into the van's rear door, making Clementine yelp and curl into herself.
Andrea gritted her teeth, shoving the gas pedal to the floor. "We'll lose them in the back roads."
Michonne glanced out the side mirror, the pickup was already back in pursuit.
"They're not giving up," she said flatly.
Andrea didn't look back. "Then we make sure we're long gone before the rest can give chase."