I was on my second cup of coffee when Glenn burst through the door, startling me, Jenny, and Carol in the process.
The latter nearly dropped the plate she was cleaning.
Panic was all over Glenn's face when he started blabbing incoherently. "Zephyr! Lady!... Walkers!..."
I quickly set my cup down and stood up. "Glenn! Take it easy man! Take a deep breath."
Glenn hurriedly took big gulps of air, his chest heaving up and down.
"Slowly! In and out!"
A minute later, Glenn was calm enough to barely speak properly now. "What was that about a lady?"
"Ah! Yeah!" Glenn gasped. "There's a lady outside. She's dragging a couple of armless, jawless walkers around and has a long-ass katana!"
Glenn paused a little, taking the glass of water that Jenny handed him.
He took a couple of big gulps before he continued. "Shane almost shot her!"
When Glenn finished talking, I instantly knew who he was talking about—Michonne, the future partner of Rick in the original timeline.
I subconsciously frowned, this is too soon.
I looked at Glenn and asked, "Did she say what she wanted?"
"No," Glenn shook his head. "She just identified herself as Michonne and said she wanted to speak to whoever is in charge here."
Hearing that, i said "Let's see what she wants, then."
I stepped out of the kitchen and headed for the gates.
Upon nearing the gates, I could see that people were already crowded there.
When they saw me approaching, they immediately made way.
At the front, Shane was standing by the open gates, his rifle already trained on her.
When Shane spotted me, he slowly moved toward me while keeping his eyes on her.
"She just showed up out of nowhere," Shane whispered to me. "For a second, I thought she was a walker as well and nearly shot her."
I nodded and turned to the lady.
She was wearing dark, durable-looking, straight-leg pants that hugged her legs, a distinctive brown leather vest layered over a simple dark tank top, scuffed-looking, sturdy, mid-calf leather combat boots, and a dark poncho that covered half her face.
Behind her were two armless, jawless walkers with rope around their necks.
Both were carrying backpacks—Michonne's, no doubt.
I took a deep look at her before I said, "Well, you said you wanted the one who's in charge. Now here I am. What do you want?"
"I'm Michonne," she said, her voice steady despite the gun pointed at her.
She glanced at the crowd of people murmuring behind me. "I want to speak with you, alone."
I looked at the two walkers groaning behind her, then back to her face.
She was tough, but she looked exhausted.
"You leave your friends behind," I said, pointing at the two jawless walkers.
She didn't argue.
She tied the ropes to the fence post, leaving them groaning in the dirt.
I didn't take her to the main house.
Instead, I led her toward a room in the new lodging that we had just finished building.
I kept the circle small; only Hershel, Dale, Rick, Shane, Morgan, and Merle came with us.
The rest of the guys stayed outside the door, just in case.
Once we got inside, Michonne stood near the center of the room, her hand resting naturally near the hilt of the sword on her back.
She didn't sit down.
"Alright," I said, leaning against the edge of the wooden table. "Talk."
She looked at each of the men in the room before she started.
"I've been roaming the woods ever since the camp I was in got overrun." A brief flash of deep pain went through her eyes when she said that.
I caught it, but I stayed silent, letting her speak. "A while back, I was invited to join a place about twenty miles from here," she continued, "Called Woodbury. It's run by a guy they call the Governor."
Rick shifted his weight, his interest instantly piqued. "A town?"
"A walled community," Michonne said, her tone cold. "Lots of people, guns. But I didn't like how that guy was. Something was off about him. I was looking for a way out, and I happened to overhear him talking to two of his men. They were talking about this place. About a community out here on a farm."
The room went completely still.
"What did they say?" Dale asked, his face pale.
"They're watching you," Michonne said, directly looking at me.
"The Governor told his men they would continue observations. They want to wait until they are sure they can win if they attack. They want your resources." She paused, letting the weight of her words sink in.
"After I heard that, I found a way to sneak out and escape. I knew I had to come warn you about what's coming."
Hearing that, the room burst into an uproar.
"I knew we should've put up more guard towers!" Shane barked from where he was standing.
Morgan stayed silent, but his expression betrayed his unease.
"Son of a bitch," Merle growled, spitting on the floorboards. "Let 'em come. I'll wring that bastard's head off myself."
"Quiet!" Rick yelled, trying to keep order as Dale and Hershel started arguing about defenses.
I raised my hand, cutting off the noise.
The room silenced instantly. Everyone turned to look at me.
I kept my eyes locked on Michonne.
She hadn't flinched once during the shouting.
"Why?" I asked her, my voice low. "Why go through all that trouble to warn people you've never even met? You could've just kept running."
Michonne looked at me, her expression softening just a fraction. "I've been watching your group from afar for a while now, before I came in."
She looked toward the window, then toward me. "I had to know if you were worth me risking my life doing this." She paused for a bit before she continued. "Then I noticed you had kids here. I didn't want them to die."
I stared at her for a long moment, reading her face. I could tell she was telling the truth.
"Thank you," I said simply.
I stood up, turned toward the door and opened it. "If you would step outside for a minute, we have a meeting to do."
Michonne nodded, her face returning to that stoic, guarded mask.
She walked out of the room without another word, leaving us to figure out what the hell we were going to do about Woodbury.
(To be continued...)