Part 19: Plan for Seattle and wedding
It had been a few days since the people from the WLF arrived. The day after they had talked with Abby, her and her friends had been moved to a house instead of a cell. But to keep things calm they kept guards outside and had people living in the house next to them. In a large room Johnny was sitting at a table with Tommy, Maria and Chris. Leo and Derrick were also there and had arrived yesterday.
The two of them had serious looks on their faces as they looked at Abbys group sitting at a table sitting across from them. The two of them had heard how they ended up in Jackson. Chris looked annoyed from where he sat next to Johnny, "So what do you want in exchange for the cure?" Owen asked sitting forward.
"Nothing, were just hoping to make peace between our two groups," Tommy said.
"Can we get our weapons back," a man from their group said.
"When your far away from Jackson, all the infected have been cleared out so you'll be fine," Chris said calmly.
"But we need to defend ourselves," a woman from the group said.
"They'll watch us," Abby said trying to calm her down.
"Do you still have the journal to make the cure?" The woman asked.
"We do," Johnny said.
"Can we see it," Owen said.
"Out of the question," Tommy said.
"Agreed," Chris said looking serious.
"Is it really fair though you guys are the only ones with a guy like him," the man said pointing at Johnny.
"Sorry but were not putting anyone through that kind of pain," Tommy said.
"Theres also the side effects and the chance someone could die from the serum," Maria said.
"One of the reasons he could have survived was because of his age," Mel said.
"How old were you when you got it?" Leo asked looking at Johnny.
"I wasn't even ten and it started getting worse when I was a teenager," he said.
"How are you okay working with him," the woman who asked about the cure said.
"You should be happy your not in a cell after what you did to one of my men," Chris said looking at the man who had asked about the weapons. Johnny knowing he was the man who shot a member from Chris's group.
"I mean he stopped us from getting a cure sooner," she said.
"It would have cost the life of a young girl," Derrick said looking serious.
"That's enough," Abby said looking at the woman.
"Abby you brought us all out here to help you," she said.
"I made a mistake," Abby said looking annoyed, "Even if we killed Joel it wouldn't have changed anything and we would still be fighting our enemy back in Seattle," she said.
"How many of them are there?" Tommy asked.
"More then enough that we've been fighting them for a long time," Abby said.
"They have an entire island and some of them are hiding out in parts of the city," Owen said.
"An entire city's difficult, took us a long time to secure Boston even back when we still had the military," Derrick said.
"That's one of the reasons why me and the group first moved out here to Jackson," Leo said.
"Wait hang on, are you telling me you secured Boston," the man said looking surprised.
"Yes that's right, we had to fight the military," Tommy said.
"Werent they suppose to be protecting people," Mel said looking confused.
"Their commander started doing things the wrong way and I chose to help the people there," Johnny said.
"You think you could help us," Mel said.
"Are you serious," the woman from the group said.
"Having him would be a great help," another man from the group said.
"He almost killed us," the man from earlier said.
"We almost attacked his pregant fiance of course he would be mad," Abby said looking serious, "Sorry about this, the WLF has lost alot of people because of them," she said.
"I could send some people," Leo said.
"I'll go too, make sure everything goes alright," Chris said calmly.
"I cant, theres some people here that I need to protect," Johnny said looking calm.
"I understand what you mean, but people in seattle have family's too, we could really use your help," Owen said.
"Will have to think about it more," Tommy said before sitting forward, "For now will have you pack some of the cure to take with you,".
"Will make sure your weapons are returned on the day you leave," Chris said.
"Thank you," Abby said before looking at the man and woman with a serious look on her face. The man looked annoyed and the woman sighed before they got up to leave. Dean and Philip were waiting outside to lead them back to the house they were staying in.
"Thanks for not attacking him Chris, it helped things go a lot quicker," Tommy said.
"No problem, hows Joel doing Johnny?" Chris asked.
"Hes alright, he wont be running around for a while but he will and luckily his injuries werent too bad," Johnny said.
"So I guess so far its me and members of Chris's group going with them to Seattle," Leo said.
"Ill go too, see if I can get some people from Jackson to go as well," Tommy said, "Ill be home soon," he said looking at Maria.
"I know, but stick around until we get the test results," she said smiling.
"I'll see if I can get some of the team members to go along with you Tommy," Johnny said before getting up from his chair. Tommy looked at Maria who nodded at him before he went to follow him.
When he got outside Johnny was walking in the direction to Joels house, "You know we really could use your help there," Tommy said getting his attention.
"Stevens been in the group as long as I have, he can lead in my place," Johnny said looking back at him.
"You know one of the reasons Darren and Lily joined up was because they knew you would be part of the team," Tommy said. Johnny then thought back to when the team was first formed. At first the people at the front fighting were him and Ellie. But the more missions they went on and when they trained together. They became a group of friends and would look out for each other.
"After what I said to Steven and Rachel how can I go?" Johnny asked.
"Well circumstances are different now," Tommy said before walking forward, "Look the people going on this trip probably have people they want to protect too," he said before heading back to the building.
Johnny looked down before heading to Joels house. When he walked inside he could hear Joel, Jessie and Ellie talking in the living room, "Hey how did it go," Ellie said as he sat down next to her on the couch.
"Things look okay for now," Johnny said, "Two of them aren't happy with Abbys decision but looks like shes got them to stand down," he said.
"Can we trust her," Joel said from the chair he was sitting. Jessie was standing next to him.
"She broke down when we explained everything, so at least we know she wont attack us," Ellie said before sighing.
"They also want us to help them out with the trouble their having in Seattle, Chris and Leo have already decided to go along with Tommy and people from Jackson," he said.
"Isn't he waiting to find out if Maria is pregnant," Jessie said.
"Yeah but she's letting him go after they find out the results," Johnny said before sitting back.
"They asked for you didn't they?" Joel asked and Johnny nodded.
"Well Johnny since we have transport now you'd definitely make it back in time for the baby to born," Jessie said.
"I cant go, I need to be there for her," Johnny said before he noticed Ellie was thinking.
"You should go to help the team," she said making him look surprised, "If Maria is pregnant we can look out for each other and Rachel would have to stay for Sam,".
"Ellie," Johnny said looking worried.
"The team needs you for this Johnny," Ellie said smiling before holding his hand, "But if your going to go we need to do something first," she said. Johnny looked at her engagement ring and nodded before the two of them kissed. Joel and Jessie smiled as they held hands.
The next day at the bar a little ceremony was held for the two of them. Joel with some help from Jessie walked Ellie down the aisle. She was in a white wedding dress Maria had found and Johnny was in a suit Joel picked out. Mostly the entire town was there to see the ceremony.
When they reached the vows, they decided they would write their own, "Ellie, when I was alone I only focused on one thing and nothing else, then I met you,".
"You showed me there was still people who cared about me and we've been through so much together and I'm looking forward to many more years together," he said.
"Johnny when I met you I couldn't believe there was someone like me, but then I realized you had been through so much and I started to really like the person I met," she said. "I'm really happy we met, survived, fell in love and now were starting a family," she said before wiping her eyes.
"The only thing I have left to say is I love you," she said.
"Johnny do you take Ellie to be your wife," the priest said.
"I do," said Johnny smiling.
"Ellie do you take Johnny to be your husband," the priest said.
"I do," she said smiling.
"Then you are now husband and wife, you may kiss the bride," the priest said before Ellie wrapped her arms around Johnnys neck and kissed him. Johnny kissed her back as the crowd cheered for them.
Jessie who was standing next to Joel noticed her boyfriend wiping his eyes, "Its okay to cry for them you know," she said smiling.
"I don't know what your talking about," he said smiling before Jessie hugged him and he put his arm around her. But as Joel looked at the happy couple being congratulated by their friends. He thought back to when they were just teenagers. The two of them standing close together as they watched giraffes.
"Here's to the Graysons," Lily cheered holding up a bottle.
"Not to much now, we all head out tomorrow," Tommy said.
"None for me either," Maria said from where she was standing next to Tommy. Tommy had arrived at Joels that morning to announce Maria was pregnant.
The newly married couple left early to enjoy some time alone together before Johnny had to leave tomorrow. Later in their room, "Whoa," Ellie said from on top of Johnny.
"Yeah," Johnny said letting out a breath as Ellie put a hand on his cheek.
"You okay," she said.
"Yeah I'm fine," he said smiling before kissing her and she lied down next to him.
"Wanted to make it fun, given it will probably be a while before we can do this again," she said.
"Well hopefully I wont be gone too long," Johnny said putting a hand on her cheek.
"Can you hug me," she said.
"Sure," he said before holding her close as she rested her head on his chest.
"You better make it back," she said and Johnny could feel her starting to shake, "Our kid is going to need its dad," she said.
Johnny looked at her eyes and noticed they were watery. He then wiped a tear away, "Don't worry, I will make it back to you, I wont let you down, I love you," he said.
"I love you too," she said before kissing him and he kissed her back.
The next morning a large crowd was gathered at the gates. There were trucks being loaded with supplies and more of the cure. David had told Johnny to let Mel look after the cure, saying like Abby she knew what was important.
The team members who were going with Johnny were Steven, Lily, Dean and Darren. Philip was staying behind to keep an eye on things. Steven said goodbye to Rachel and his son Sam. The little boy waved to his father as he headed to the truck.
Tommy was hugging Maria and Johnny was doing the same with Ellie. When Johnny pulled away someone spoke up, "Excuse me," she said. He looked to see it was Abby.
"I wont ask for you to trust me, but I'm going to try and make things right," she said.
"Just make sure my husband gets home safe," Ellie said looking serious.
"You got it, everyone from my team is packed up," she said looking at Johnny.
"Alright, looks like were good to go then," he said after nodding his head. She nodded back at him before heading to the second truck.
"Here I'm with you and the team in the lead truck," Tommy said.
"Got it," he said before looking at Ellie.
"Ill see you soon," she said.
"Definitely," he said smiling before heading to the lead truck with Tommy.
The trucks then drove away as the crowd watched them go. Derrick had also stayed behind to help Philip while Johnny was gone. Joel then walked over to Ellie and put a hand on her shoulder.
"He will make it back," he said.
"I know he will," Ellie said as she remembered the words they said to each other last night. She then put her hand on her stomach as she watched the trucks leave.