Sorry ya'll, that I haven't updated in a while. This week has been my spring break away from classes and I spent the week with my grandfather, who isn't exactly doing well. He also, unfortunately, does not live in a place that has internet. So, I had to wait until I got home to work on this chapter and I finally have it done. Its not that exciting and I'm not really happy with it - its kind of a filler chapter. I wanted to write a couple of scenes at the end of "Claimed" but didn't want to split it with the next episode, so what I did, was dedicate a shorter chapter to the scenes in "Claimed" and make the next chapter all about the next episode. With that being said, this chapter has no Dessa or Taryl in it, but focuses mainly on Glenn/Tara/Jeremy. Hopefully next chapter will be much better :)
DarylDixon'sLover: Truthfully, hun, I have absolutely NO idea what I'm going to do with these next upcoming chapters. Understandably its majorly stressing me out, so hopefully these chapters won't be too long in being updated :)
HaloHunter89: The reason I brought Jeremy back, was to cover my own ass, so-to-speak. I'm not going to go too much into it, but I have done my research and according to the writer's, someone major is SUPPOSED to die by the end of this season. Now, you can connect the dots on why Jeremy's here to cover my own ass, but he is. I can promise you, though, that he'll largely be a background character (hopefully) and I have no intentions of him stirring the pot like Sam did. Him and Ethan's interactions ARE eventually going to be interesting, I can tell you that :)
With love!
- Nagiana
"Son of a dick . . .!" Abraham murmured as he squatted down and observed the truck's gas as it streamed down through the bullet holes that littered the side of the massive vehicle. Jeremy gave a laugh as he slapped a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Sorry Abe . . . looks like Donna's done for." He told him and Abraham shot him a determined look.
"The fuck she is, Jeremy! Give me a minute and I'll have her right as rain!" He promised as he turned to scoot down underneath the truck, careful to avoid the gas that streamed down. Jeremy watched him go and shook his head before turning to gaze at the other people standing nearby. Evan was standing next to Rosita, the both of them talking in quiet murmurs, while the new guy and girl stood further away, not talking but looking extremely anxious. Eugene, as always, was standing away from the group as well and once again, Jeremy knew there was something about the man that rubbed him the wrong way. He didn't know what it was, but he didn't like it, and until he figured out what, him and Evan would continue to keep their distance.
He had trusted a guy before, ignoring the bad feeling he got whenever he was around him, and look where that got him: a spray of bullet's in the chest, three years as a POW over in Afghanistan, and a life lost without Tessa or Ethan.
Your damn right he didn't trust easy anymore.
But really, if he wanted to point the finger, it wasn't really Eugene's fault. They had stopped the convoy because the new guy they picked up with the girl they had found on the road, was suddenly awake and demanding off of the truck. Once he grabbed their shit and started walking on down the road, of course Abraham couldn't listen to him when he told him to just let them go - he had to try and keep them from leaving.
One thing led to another, and Abraham and the new guy hit the ground and started fighting. He had immediately jumped in and in the process of trying to pull Abraham off of the younger guy, didn't realize that the sounds were drawing walkers from within the cornfield and the woods on either side of the road. That was when Eugene had shot up the truck in his haste to kill all the walkers until they came to their senses and realized they needed to focus on the things that were really trying to kill them, and not making up stupid excuses to kill each other.
"Hey Jeremy, are ya still standing there?"
"Yeah, what'cha need?" He answered him as his hands moved onto his hips. Abraham's voice came slightly muffled from underneath the truck when he answered him, and Jeremy had to bend over slightly at the waist in order to hear him.
"Go get my tools, will ya? I think I know what's wrong . . . or what better be wrong anyway . . .!" He told him, the last words coming out as a bitter mutter, and Jeremy nodded and heaved a sigh as he turned and headed for the Jeep still parked behind the truck and which had miraculously avoided Eugene's splattering of bullets. He stepped over walker corpses and pools of quickly coagulating blood, and when he reached the back of the Jeep, he opened the door. He started pushing and pulling things aside in order to retrieve the tool box that was tucked away somewhere where the backseat of the Jeep used to be but which was now missing.
"So, what do you think of this shitty situation we suddenly find ourselves in, Officer Roth?"
Jeremy didn't answer, choosing to silently turn his head in order to gaze at Rosita as she made her way over to him, picking her way carefully over the bodies like he had done. He gave a shrug as he devoted his attention back to what he had been doing. "I know that no matter how much Abraham works on that damn truck of his, he ain't gonna get it working again. I also know that I should have taught Eugene how to use that gun better and now we're paying for it - that's what I think of this shitty situation we suddenly find ourselves in." He muttered and she smiled.
"Didn't I tell you that you were the one who needed to do teach him and not Abraham?" She asked, and he smiled as well and chuckled before he turned his eyes back onto her.
"Guess I need to listen to you more, huh?" He asked and she nodded.
"Yeah, you probably do." She looked down at the bags he was plopping down at his feet from the back of the Jeep. "So is that why you're getting all you and Evan's stuff together? You think we're gonna be on foot from here on out?" He nodded.
"Yup, and if you were smart, you'd do the same." He told her as he took out the toolbox and set it down beside the bags before slamming the door shut. He then moved over to the driver's side door. He gazed at the inside of the Jeep for a moment, silently thanking the vehicle for getting them as far as it did, before he reached in and gently plucked out the picture placed behind the steering wheel. He gazed at it for a moment before sliding it almost reverently into the pocket of his coat. Rosita had been waiting for him as he moved back around, her face expressionless and he knew why. He just didn't choose to acknowledge it.
Didn't mean she wouldn't, though.
"I look like her, don't I?" She asked, and Jeremy gazed at her for a moment before casting his eyes down onto the bags at his feet and giving a shrug.
"I won't lie – you do a little bit. Tess, she, uh . . . she was a little bit curvier than you are. Her hair was longer – curlier. Her skin was darker . . . but yeah, take all those away and you do kinda look like her."
"Is that why we . . .?" She began, but ended up trailing off, and he glanced at her for a moment before giving another shrug.
"Again, I won't lie to you – a little bit." He gave a shrug then. "I mean, don't get me wrong - I don't mean to piss you off, Rosi, but . . ." He heaved a sigh. "You had to walk into this knowing that this ain't nothing – Hell, I was pretty up-front about that in the beginning! What we're doing its . . . it's a distraction - just sex!" He chuckled then. "And Hell, if Abraham ever found out, then I'd have one serious fight on my hands!"
"Would you, though?" She asked, her heart pounding in her chest at his potential answer, and Jeremy gazed at her for a moment before slowly shaking his head.
"There's only one woman in this entire world other than Evan, that I'd throw down for, Rosi, and I'm sorry . . . but you're not that woman."
Rosita nodded. She knew that what he was going to say – that, that was how he felt. There was only one woman other than his daughter, who he would ever love, and unfortunately, they didn't know if that woman was alive or dead or what. But whoever she was, she had done enough of a number on him to make it nearly impossible for him to move on.
Why did life have to be so unfair sometimes?
"Rosi, I'm sorry!" He apologized again, and she nodded and let out a laugh.
"Yeah, I know, Jeremy, and I understand -"
Abraham's loud cursing, was what suddenly interrupted her. Rosita and Jeremy both shared a slightly curious look before Jeremy reached down to pick up the toolbox at their feet. His hand then splayed out on the small of her back so that he could gently push her in the direction of the truck.
"What's up, man?" Jeremy asked when they all reached him and he set down the toolbox, and Abraham shook his head.
"I won't be needing that now!"
"Why?"
Abraham heaved an irritated sigh. "Remember . . . when we were runnin' a convoy in one of these overseas?" He asked him, and Jeremy nodded as he continued: "And we were coming up a dune and there was . . . this one cavil that looked like it was about to puke?" Jeremy nodded again.
"Yeah, well, that was probably because there half a kilo of C-4 stuffed up its ass – you ever thought of that, Abe?" He asked him as he buried his hands in the pockets of his coat before moving to lean up against the truck. Evan and Rosita both smiled as Abraham chuckled and nodded.
"We were in twenty feet of that blast and were thrown half a click into the desert."
"Yeah, and let's not repeat that again, shall we?" Jeremy muttered as he took one of his hands out of the pocket, and rubbed his face with it. Rosita shot him a smile over her shoulder, one that he quickly replied with as Abraham continued blithely on, his voice getting more and more irritated.
"Yeah, but we drove home in it, didn't we?"
"Yeah, and looking like deep fried shit to boot!" Jeremy quickly added on and he saw the new girl cock a smile as Abraham finally pushed himself out from underneath the truck.
"Yeah, so can you please tell me, how in the holy Hell, you managed to kill this truck?" He asked Eugene, who simply gazed at him for a moment before running his eyes over the now dead truck. He gave them a long string of scientific psychobabble then, and Jeremy rolled his eyes and turned away to head back to the Jeep.
"Evan, come one – we gotta get our bags -"
"Hey, man, is this yours?"
Jeremy stopped and turned around, right when the new girl lunged forward and picked up the picture. Jeremy patted his pockets, felt that the picture of Tessa was gone, and realized that it must have fell out when he pulled his hand out of his pocket to rub his face. He gave her a smile and nodded.
"Yeah, thanks. Don't know what I would have done if I lost it -!"
"Hey, that's Tess!"
Jeremy froze when the new guy's eyes widened and he stepped forward, where he took the picture from her. He gazed at it for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, that totally is! I should know, too – she's my wife's best friend and my best friend's mother!" He spoke before he stopped and gave a little half-shrug. "I mean, she's younger in this picture, but that's definitely Tess!"
"You know her?" Jeremy asked as an alarmed look appeared on his face, and the new guy nodded.
"Yeah – she was in our group before we got separated. Her and her husband and their kids . . ."
Jeremy's heart sank a little then. He knew she'd have Ethan with her, but who was this husband of hers? Was she still with Sam after all these years – did they finally manage to have a couple of kids? Or was it some other guy that she got married to and had kids with? Jeremy didn't know, but he'd be damned if he wasn't going to find out.
"Do you know where she is?" He asked, not able to mask the excitement that had managed to creep up in his voice, and the new guy shook his head.
"No. The place we were living at got attacked and we were all separated. She could be anywhere by now but knowing Daryl, they're perfectly fine."
Jeremy's heart sank even more. Daryl . . . so Daryl was her husband. That explained a lot.
The new guy's eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion then as he held up the picture. "By the way . . . why do you have this? How do you know her?" He asked, a tad defensively, and Jeremy gave a shrug.
"I knew Tess, before this whole thing started. I've been trying to find her this entire time – me and Evan both have." He told him as he jerked his thumb over his shoulder to his daughter standing behind him. She smiled and gave a small wave, and Glenn nodded, slowly – cautiously.
"You an old friend or something?" He asked, and Jeremy gave another shrug.
"You could say that." He told him and Glenn gazed at him for a moment then before handing him the picture. Jeremy took it back with a breath of relief.
"I'm sorry, but I don't know where she is. I aim to find them, though. You can tag along if you want but I warn you – her husband's a little mistrustful when it comes to people who claim to know her. We've had . . . bad experiences with those in the past." He told him as he moved to pick up his pack, immediately thinking of all the drama that both Sam, Merle and Seth both had caused. Jeremy nodded.
"Yeah, we will. Evan, come on – let's go get our stuff." He told her and she nodded as she made her way back to the Jeep. Abraham grabbed ahold of his arm when he made a move to follow her.
"What are you doing?" He hissed, and Jeremy's lips pursed.
"This is the first lead I've found pertaining to her, since this whole thing started. Do you honestly think I'm going to ignore it?" He hissed back before jerking his arm out of his grip. "Follow or don't, but know that if you don't, your group is suddenly cut in half and drastically down on manpower!" He moved off then and they quickly gathered up their stuff before taking off after the new guy and girl as they made their way down the street in the direction they had come from. Rosita watched them go for a moment, torn on what to do, before deciding: "Fuck it." She jogged to the back of the truck and grabbed up her stuff before taking off after them.
"Hey – what the Hell are you doing?" Abraham yelled after her, and she gave a shrug as she turned around to face him while still walking.
"What the Hell else are we gonna do?" She asked and he gazed at her, dumbfounded for a moment, as she turned back around and finished jogging towards Jeremy and Evan.
"Hey, by the way, I'm Jeremy. This is my daughter Evan." He told the new guy walking in front of them, and he turned around and gave them each a slightly strained smile.
"I'm Glenn, and this is Tara. I hope you and your daughter have no qualms about walking for long stretches of time, 'cause that's what we're about to do!" He told them and Jeremy glanced down at Evan beside him, who nodded confidently. He then nodded as well.
"Don't worry about us. We'll be fine."
They had been walking for hours – Glenn always at the head of the group and always silent. Rosita always stayed with Jeremy and Evan, easily keeping pace with them, and Eugene – always the loner – stayed behind them. Eventually, Tara found herself walking alongside Abraham, and it was when they found themselves keeping each other company as they walked, that Abraham decided to speak:
"Gotta hand it to him . . . he's a persistent son-of-a-bitch. Hell, the both of them are!" He spoke in reference to both Glenn and Jeremy, and Tara gave a laugh. "I get why your following him. You're loyal; you're a good person. I like it. But what we're doing . . . I don't know how else to say it, but saving the world – it's just more important!" He shook his head. "I mean, even if he does find him wife and everyone else – if Jeremy does manage to be reunited with this woman he's been trying to find, so what? How long do you think they'll live happily ever after if we don't get Eugene up to Washington? How long do you think any of us will live?"
"You think that because I'm following Glenn, then that makes me a good person?" Tara finally answered him before giving a laugh and shaking her head. "Believe me – it doesn't, and I'm not."
Abraham laughed. "Your good – don't worry about it." Tara shook her head.
"You don't know anything about me. Just like I don't know anything about why you're going to Washington. I get why Eugene's going – he's the only one who knows how to end this. Jeremy was going because you were his best friend and he was smart enough to know that it was easier traveling in numbers while he looked for Tess. Rosita, she loves you – she'd follow you to the ends of the earth -"
Abraham interrupted her then with a bark of a laugh. He shook his head. "Now let's get something straight right now: she might be with me, but it's not me she loves." Abraham interrupted her, a tad coldly, and Tara shot him an interested look. His eyes were pinned on her as she walked in-between Jeremy and Evan, the grin she had on her face as they laughed – the grin that she would pin on Jeremy and the looks she would give him when she didn't think anyone was looking. He didn't ever think he'd find himself in a situation where his best friend was sticking it to his girlfriend more than he was, but eventually, he shook his head again. "And it's not me she would follow to the ends of the earth. Its him. Its always been him."
Ooo, I smell a love triangle! ;)
