C H A P T E R  2 0

❛ when the dead come knocking ❜

QUINN

     SHE STOOD UP FROM HER POSITION BEHIND the car and made her way towards the baby formula that was left behind in the red shopping basket on the side of the road. All while keeping a firm grip on her dagger and an eye out for if Merle decided, for some reason, to turn the car back around. But everything stayed quiet. She picked up the basket and turned to look at Michonne, determination burning in her eyes.

Michonne didn't protest and with a nod of understanding they started making their way down the street. They both knew this was what needed to be done. Even if those people hadn't been part of Andrea's group, they still had a baby that needed this formula. Plus two of their group were taken and they would never find out where to if Quinn and Michonne wouldn't help them out. Of course their reasons weren't completely selfless. They needed a place they could safely hole up for a while. To heal and gather their strength.

Still, the need to help others was such a foreign feeling to her. She used to think she only cared about herself. Then Michonne and Andrea came along and proved her wrong, and now she was bringing baby formula to complete strangers. When the world ended a lot of things had changed and now it seemed she was starting to change too. She just didn't know if it was for better or for worse. She couldn't really afford to care about others in a world as cruel as this one and yet, for the first time in her life, she did.

The walk to the prison lasted hours, at least that was what it felt like to her exhausted body. She could smell her own sweat, mixed with the horrible smell of the walker blood she was covered in. Even the fact that it kept the walkers away wasn't enough to make it bearable anymore. She preferred fighting to stumbling around like she was a corpse herself.

But the two women didn't have any strength left to fight and they could only hope the group in the prison were as good hearted as Andrea had always said they were.

Finally, between the trees, a tower became visible and as the two of them walked forwards the end of the forest came into sight. They stepped out from beneath the trees, into a meadow that surrounded the huge prison complex.

It had towers, fences with barbed wire and not a single walker seemed to be inside.

A small breath of pure awe left Quinn her lips. This truly seemed like a good place to keep yourself safe from the dangers of the outside world. What used to keep dangerous people in, now kept dangerous people out. But she couldn't help but feel a certain weight in her chest as well. Her brother had been put in a prison closer to her home at first and there she had visited him a few times. Before he was transferred to this horrible place. She had never been here before, simply not having the money to travel this far, but here she was anyway, seeing the place where he had most likely died...

Michonne walked up to the fence with Quinn on her heels. The red basket was still tightly clasped in her hands as they made their way past the walkers and through the knee-high grass.

Their arrival hadn't gone unnoticed. A man slowly made his way down from the prison, walking across the great meadow that lay between the first fence and the second. His entire body seemed to radiate caution as he narrowed his bright blue eyes at them, his hand resting on his gun as he reached the fence.

Michonne stared at him before reaching up to grab the fence to steady herself.

Quinn noticed his eyes going to the basket in her hand and the way they slightly widened when he realised what was inside.

More people came running down towards the fence but her attention was drawn to movement beside her as a walker suddenly seemed to pick up their scent. She looked down to Michonne's leg, noticing the wound had started bleeding again, the fresh scent of blood drawing the walkers closer.

'Shit,' she muttered as she carefully placed the basket down and reached for her daggers.

Michonne stepped back from the fence and reached for her katana. Without hesitating she drove it straight through the skull of the first approaching corpse. Quinn turned around, standing back-to-back with Michonne so they couldn't get a surprise attack from behind.

She knew they wouldn't be able to hold them off for long. She was barely holding it together and Michonne couldn't even stand on her leg. Quinn could only hope these people would open the gate before they would be torn apart.

Michonne beheaded a walker, but lost her balance in the process.

A panicked scream escaped her lips as she tried to pull Michonne up by her arm while killing a walker at the same time. She could hear Michonne's breathing quicken behind her. 'Mich, stay with me!' Quinn yelled as panic flamed inside of her. She raised her leg to kick a corpse to the ground, kneeled over it and drove her knife through its skull.

A heavy thud came from behind her making Quinn spin around, her eyes wide. Michonne had collapsed, her eyes slowly closing.

'No, no, no, no,' Quinn mumbled.

There were too many walkers approaching and she could barely even stand herself. Staying close to Michonne's unconscious body she pushed her dagger into the shoulder of a corpse, not having the strength to reach higher. With her other hand she managed to take another dagger from her belt, driving it through the walker's eye.

A sudden gunshot made her jump as she watched a walker to her right fall down. She managed a quick look over her shoulder and saw a young boy with a sheriff's hat standing behind the fence with his gun raised. He just saved her life.

'Carl!' The man who saw them first shouted, taking the kid's attention. The boy reached into his pocket and took out a set of keys which he threw towards the man.

He opened the fence and sprinted outside with his gun raised. She froze as he aimed his gun right at her but when he pulled the trigger the bullet found its target in a walker's skull that had been approaching from behind her.

His help somehow renewed her energy and she ran as fast as she could towards the basket, lifting it from the ground before running back to Michonne. Her eyes briefly met the piercing blue gaze of the man who'd saved her life. Then he looked away and gestured down at Michonne.

'Is she bit?' He asked, a strong accent in his voice.

Quinn shook her head and pointed at Michonne's leg. 'Gunshot,' she mumbled.

The man knelt down, examining the wound. This had to be either Rick or Shane, both men who were in charge according to Andrea. He put Michonne's arm around his shoulder and lifted her up before quickly making his way back behind the fence.

Quinn was right behind him, the basket tightly in one hand and a dagger in the other.

The kid closed the gate behind them, shielding them from the ever hungry corpses. For now, they were safe.

The man guided her towards one of the cell blocks. He all but kicked the door open, shouting instructions to the kid that had followed them inside.

'Carl get a blanket, Beth water and a towel.'

Quinn turned around to see a young blonde girl with a baby in her arms and an old man with crutches following them. She didn't have more time to look at them though, or wonder where they had come from. Putting the basket down on the table that stood in the middle of the grey area she turned to look at Michonne who seemed to be more or less awake now.

The kid, Carl, placed a blanket on the ground and the man carefully placed Michonne down on it.

Quinn kneeled beside her friend, her heart beating nervously in her chest. She had to be okay. She couldn't lose her now.

The blonde girl handed a bottle of water to the man. He sprinkled some of it on Michonne's chest to wake her up.

Her eyes flew open and a startled gasp left her lips as she looked around in panic.

'Hey, it's okay,' the man tried to calm her down. 'Who are you?'

Those words only seemed to make her panic more as she turned on her side and reached for her sword but the man kicked it out of reach.

'We're not gonna hurt you unless you try something stupid first,' he said, slow but stern.

'It's okay, I'm right here,' Quinn said, putting her hand on Michonne's shoulder. 'Calm down alright.'

Michonne took a deep breath, seeming to find that enough for now as she closed her eyes again, allowing herself a moment of rest.

The man turned to Quinn and held out his hand to her, his eyes on the weapons attached to her waist. An annoyed sigh escaped her lips as she reached for the four daggers behind her belt and handed them to him.

'Who are you?' The man asked again.

'I'm not answering any questions until I'm sure she's okay,' Quinn snapped, nodding at Michonne. This seemed to frustrate the man even more, but she didn't care. She had lost Andrea, she wasn't going to lose Michonne too.

'Rick?' A deep raspy male voice questioned from behind them.

So, he was Rick, the man she'd heard so much about.

Quinn turned to look behind her, finding herself curious to meet yet another member of Andrea's group. Her hazel eyes met a pair of clear blue eyes in a face that looked at her with suspicion. Even looking at her with a scowl, though, he was handsome. His clothes were filthy and torn, his brown hair a mess but somehow that only made him more good-looking. There was something weirdly familiar about him...

'Who the hell are they?' He asked and his accent was enough for her to finally place him. She'd heard the same redneck drawl from his brother not too long ago.

She was forced to look away from him though when Michonne opened her eyes and tried to sit up again, clearly not liking being in such a vulnerable position without her sword.

'Be careful,' Quinn muttered, holding out her hands to catch her companion if she were to pass out again.

'Wanna tell us your names?' Rick asked, his blue eyes scanning their faces cautiously.

Michonne simply kept staring at Rick and Quinn immediately recognised that look. She was completely guarded and not willing to let anything slip. Quinn couldn't blame her after the people they just met at Woodbury but this wasn't the same. These were people Andrea had known and trusted. So why couldn't they do the same?

When a shaky breath left Quinn's lips Michonne shot her a warning glare but she decided to ignore her. 'I'm Quinn, this is Michonne,' she said, seeing no harm in telling them their names.

Silence filled the room, only to be broken by the man Quinn suspected to be Merle's brother. 'Come on in here,' he told Rick, but his eyes never left Quinn and Michonne.

Rick got to his feet. 'Everything alright?'

'You're gonna wanna see this,' the man simply said, not providing any more information.

Rick gestured for the others to move further into the cell block. 'Go ahead, Carl grab the bag.'

The young blonde girl, still with the baby in her arms, the old man with the crutches and the kid with the hat moved into the other room and Quinn couldn't help but wonder how hard it must be to survive with a group with so many vulnerable people.

Rick held up the katana and the daggers. 'We'll keep this safe and sound. The doors are all locked, you'll be safe here.' Then he pointed at Michonne's leg. 'We can treat that.'

Michonne took a deep breath. 'I didn't ask for your help.'

Quinn suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. She hated to admit it as well, but they could use some help right about now.

'Doesn't matter,' Rick said before turning around and walking away. 'Can't let you leave.' He stepped through a door made of bars, followed by the man with the piercing blue eyes, who closed the door behind him, taking out a set of keys to lock it. He narrowed at the two women before turning around and disappearing out of view.

Once he left, Michonne continued to try and stand up.

'Are you stupid?' Quinn hissed but she ignored her.

Holding on to the wall, she finally managed to get back on her feet. Slowly she stumbled forward, towards the door the group had just disappeared through.

Quinn exhaled deeply before standing up and walking after her, her arms outstretched to catch Michonne if necessary. But they managed to reach the door without falling and Michonne, holding herself up by the bars, narrowed at the sight in the cell block.

She wondered why her friend had wanted to see this so badly and so she looked through the bars as well, curiosity burning inside of her.

'Found the poor thing in the tombs, passed out and dehydrated,' Merle's brother spoke. If she was right about him, his name was Daryl.

Her gaze wandered to who he was talking about. A woman with short grey hair and tired eyes. She was hugging each of them as though she hadn't seen them for a while. Upon noticing the baby she held her hand to her mouth in shock, then turned to Rick who gave a slight shake of his hand. Tears appeared in the woman's eyes. 'I'm sorry,' she whispered.

Clearly the mother of the baby was gone, and it must've just happened for the group to still be so touched by it. Before she could even start to imagine what happened a voice cut through the air, so familiar and full of genuine surprise that her heart crumbled painfully in her chest.

'Quinn?'

A U T H O R 'S  N O T E

So, Quinn and Michonne finally met Rick and the others! I'm sorry for ending the chapter this way, you're gonna have to wait just a little bit longer for the long awaited reunion between the Morales siblings. :)

I'm actually very proud of this chapter. I absolutely loved writing it and I feel like we're finally moving towards the main plot now. It's gonna be so much fun writing Quinn with Rick's group and how her relationship's going to be with all of them. Hope you all are just as excited as I am!

As always, thanks for reading. Don't forget to vote or comment and I'll see you all saturday!

xXx

UYM

edited: ✔