Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

Chapter 53

Author's Note: So adding Mariah just detoured my original plan of doing only three or four chapters' of them on the run. May only be one or two more. Plus a couple of Merle chapters'. Stick with me! Review please.

Jewel put the rag in the water and rung it out and put it on the other woman's head. She glanced down at the injured woman's good hand that was tied to the table next to the couch. "I'm sorry Mar….this has to be done. I'm sorry that this happened to you, sweetheart."

Daryl leaned on the wall. "She has to be tied down, Jewel's. You know that."

"I know…don't have to like it do I?" Jewel asked.

"Don't like it either, but if she turns," Daryl said.

"She's not gonna die, Daryl, she can't," Jewel said as she rung out the rag again.

Both looked over at the door as it opened and Rick came in. "How is she?"

"Still fighting…." Jewel answered.

Rick nodded. "Maggie and Glenn went to the pharmacy, got these. Just in case," he said as he handed Jewel the morning after pills.

"Whose on guard?" Daryl asked.

"Summer and T. They volunteered," Rick said.

"Goin' to check on perimeter, let me know if something' changes," Daryl said as he kissed the top of Jewel's head and walked out.

Rick rubbed Jewel's shoulders. "She seems to be a fighter."

"She is…." Jewel said. "I can't imagine….her not knowin' if her son is alive or dead. That's hell in it's own way."

"Yeah it is," Rick said as he kissed her.

"Glenn brought her bag back from the clinic?" Jewel asked as she kissed him back.

Rick nodded. "A couple hammers, a blade from what looks like an ice skate, a surgical blade attached to a screwdriver. Not the most effective things, but definitely been used. Some clothes, and this," he said as he handed her a picture of Jewel, Mariah and Jane. "So that's the famous Jane huh?"

"Yeah…" Jewel answered as she smiled softly. "Carol and Lori…they aren't happy about you bringing her back."

"They aren't happy about a lot of things," Rick told her as he kissed her.

"Why did you?" Jewel asked as she looked at him.

Rick ran his hand down her back. "It's just like you said. We couldn't leave her. We have to make hard calls sometimes, but some decisions are easy. This one was," he told her as he kissed her.

Jewel smiled as she ran her hand down his face. "Thank you," she said as she kissed him.

"I…must be hallucinating because…the Jewel I know….wouldn't be kissin' someone, she swore off…relationships," Mariah said, her voice being horse.

Jewel laughed as she squeezed Mariah's hand. "Rick can you pour me some water for her. Hey if you haven't heard it's the end of the world, I decided to break some of my own rules. How are you feeling?"

"Like hell….want to tell me why I'm tied to the bed?" Mariah asked.

Rick gave Jewel the water. "Precaution. We didn't know if you were going to make it. With you running the fever, we needed to be safe against you turning," Rick explained.

"I wasn't bit or scratched," Mariah answered as Jewel helped her take the water.

Jewel glanced at Rick. "It doesn't matter Mar…we're all infected. No matter how we die, we come back as one of those things. Head shots are the only way to stop it. Guess you figured that out."

Mariah nodded. "Your bedside manner needs work, Jewel."

"How much do you remember about us finding you?" Rick asked.

"Your name is Rick? And a white haired older guy took a bullet out of my side?" Mariah answered.

"Herschel. He'll want to know that you are awake. You alright for a bit while I go get him?" Rick asked Jewel as he squeezed her shoulder.

"Yeah, check on Summer for me?" Jewel asked.

Rick nodded as he kissed her softly. "Got it, I won't be long," he said as he walked out of the room.

"Alright Jewelbug…spill," Mariah said as she looked at her and used the other woman's nickname.

"Long story, Marcat," Jewel said as she untied the other woman. "I have these….you don't have to take them but…" she said as she held up the morning after pills.

"First pharmacy I came too…I got some, took them," Mariah said as she tried to sit up.

"Easy," Jewel told her.

"Jane would be proud of you….she'd be laughing at you….but she'd be proud. The two of you love each other, it's obvious. So, spill. Let's forget that I'm shot….or we're in the middle of the ending of the world, and dead people want to eat us. Tell me about this Rick. I mean, has he passed Merle and Daryl's tests?" Mar asked as she drank some water. "Wait…you said you lost Merle…I'm sorry."

"He went on a run with some of the group, and he got high. Was endangering them….they found Rick in Atlanta…he was a Sheriff, he handcuffed Merle to the roof. The key got dropped…Daryl, Rick and Glenn went back for him….only thing they found was his hand. The SOB cut off his own hand," Jewel told her as she brushed the other woman's hair out of the way.

"So, you fall in love with the Sheriff as a thank you for leavin' Merle?" Mariah asked with a faint smile.

"Not as simple as that. You should know, Rick's wife is part of the group and pregnant with another man's child," Jewel told her.

"Wife?" Mariah asked.

"They were separated before all this, he had moved out of the house, he had met with a divorce lawyer, then he got shot in the line of duty. He woke up in the hospital determined to find his son Carl and in a way Lori. Trust me, I tried to give him back to Lori when I realized I was falling for him," Jewel told her.

"Oh that's a good one…." Mariah said.

"Yeah, I thought so too. Rick not so much. We need to talk about…what happened with you and the other group," Jewel said softly. "I know you don't want to, you just want forget, but trust me when I say that only eats you up inside," she told her friend as a knock came on the door. "Come in Hershel."

"Daddy sent me, thought it would be easier for her with a female," Maggie said as she came in. "Maggie Greene," she told the woman.

"Mariah Jacobson," the woman answered. "How many do you have in the group?" she asked as she grimaced as Maggie and Jewel helped her sit up to check the wound.

"Sorry," Maggie said.

"Fourteen and half of us," Jewel answered. "Fifteen and half, counting you."

"Jewel….I'm not part of the group. I'm real grateful for you helping me, a friendly face is rare treat but I don't want to impose. Plus other members of the group may not look friendly at it," Mariah told her.

Maggie looked at Jewel. "No one makes it alone anymore Mariah. Daddy and Rick made the decision to bring you back here to the clinic, Jewel didn't ask. It was kind of a given that you were staying with us. Our group isn't like the one you were with."

"I can tell that," Mariah answered.

"I'll send Daryl in here to guard you," Jewel teased.

"When you get a little stronger, we'll help you downstairs to meet everyone," Maggie said.

"Thanks," Mariah answered.

Two Days Later:

Daryl looked over a map with Rick and T Dog. Jewel and Summer were opening cans of soup as they heard the door upstairs open.

Mariah walked out of the office as she held onto the wall. "You weren't kidding when you said we were in a library. Let me guess, Summer picked the hiding spot."

Summer laughed. "That would be me."

"What are you doing up?" Jewel asked. "One of you go and help her downstairs," she told the three men.

Daryl went upstairs and grabbed hold of her. "Shouldn't be up yet."

"I'm fine, Daryl, if I stayed up there any more I'd go insane," Mariah said. "I know that you're all postponing leaving until I'm stronger. Can't get stronger if I don't get up," Mariah said as Daryl put her in a chair.

"We were just discussin' our next move," Rick answered. "Summer want to go round up the troops for dinner and to meet Mariah?"

"Got it," Summer answered.

"I know that you are not leaving without giving me a hug. Didn't come upstairs once while I was recovering…." Mariah scolded the teen.

"Hey, that wasn't my fault, mom said to let you rest," Summer said as she hugged her. "Glad you're here. I'm sorry…about Peter…."

Mariah smiled softly. "I got hope maybe Boston wasn't hit as bad as here," she told the teen as she left.

"Since these people don't know how to make introductions, I'm Theodore Douglas. T Dog to most and T to those who can throw a knife from across the room and hit a walker dead center in the head," he teased as he winked at Jewel.

Mariah smiled. "Um…I'm good at using anything close up?" she offered helpfully.

"Well it's kept you alive this far," Rick said. "We'll have to rearrange some people in cars to accommodate Mariah, but that shouldn't be a problem," he said.

"I could ride on Daryl's motorcycle, if no one else is ridin' on the back of it. If you don't mind Daryl?" Mariah answered.

"I don't mind, but with your injuries, wouldn't be best for a bit," Daryl answered.

"She can take my spot in your car Rick, I'll ride with Daryl this time," Jewel said as she kissed his shoulder.

"Don't I get a say in that?" Rick teased.

"She could ride with Summer, Summer only has Mitch and Beth," T suggested.

"Wait…Summer's driving….um…I think I'd be better off on Daryl's motorcycle," Mariah said loud enough for the teen to hear.

"Hey! Except for not stopping at stop signs, I do pretty good!" she said as she came down the steps with Mitch and Carl.

"I swear dad is going to find a ticket book somewhere and start giving you ticket's for blowing through stop signs," the older boy told Summer.

"That's not a bad idea, son," Rick said.

Jewel looked at Mitch then at Mariah bending down besides the chair the other woman was sitting in. "Mar…I didn't even think about it…I'm sorry. Mitch this is my friend Mariah."

Mariah took a breath. "It's fine…hello sweetheart. So who do you belong to in this rag tag group?"

"All of us," Summer said.

"He lost his two brothers early on at camp and at the farm, he's stuck with us weather he likes it or not," Carl said as he tickled the kid.

"Well, then I guess your stuck with me too," Mariah said. "And you're Carl? Rick's son."

"Couldn't tell by the sheriff's hat?" Carl asked. "Belonged to my dad."

"Nice," Mariah said as she heard other voices.

Rick waited until everyone got downstairs and settled. "Alright, quick introductions. You've met Maggie, that's Beth her sister, Hershel their dad, Lori Carl's mom, Carol and her daughter Sophia, Glenn , and you obviously know Daryl, Summer and Jewel and you met T and Mitch," he said as Jewel started passing out bowls of soup. "This is Mariah."

"Hi…" Mariah said as she looked around the group.

The group mumbled hellos as they started eating.

"So what's the plan Rick? The weather is coming in and going to be comin' in hard. We need to be somewhere set up with supplies for a couple weeks, hopefully cut off from the herds," Hershel suggested.

"Herds?" Mariah asked.

"Big group of walkers that travel together," Mitch answered.

"Thank you buddy," Mariah answered.

Rick nodded at Jewel who went over to the maps. "We've been keeping tracks of the herds we've been running into. They are all coming from the city and merging around us. There's a hunting lodge about a day's drive from here, it would have been minimally staffed at the time, out of season. But they would have just started getting deliveries, and it has walls to keep the turkey's in but the walkers' out."

"If we're lucky, the generators are in operatin' order, could stay for at least two weeks if needed. It's not a permanent solution, but with this storm comin' it may be the best for now," Daryl explained.

"There's also a shopping center inside the gates, once again if we're lucky, it's mostly intact," Jewel said.

"And if we aren't lucky?" Lori asked.

"Then we move on," Rick answered.

"It be nice to be able to cook, have a real Christmas. Forget what's out there….just for a little while," Beth said.

"When has luck ever been on our side Rick? Just cause it's isolated don't mean anything. We could be running into people," Carol said.

"Do you have any other suggestions? It's a risk I'm willing to take, for some normalcy even for a couple weeks," Rick said.

Jewel put her hand on Rick's shoulder. "Alright, let's take a vote. We all know how well goin' around in circles work," she said sarcastically. "Majority rule. All in favor?"

Jewel, Rick, Mitch, Daryl, Maggie, Summer, Hershel, T, Beth, Glenn, Mariah and Carl raised there hands. "It's settled," Rick said. "We'll need an advanced team, about fifteen minutes ahead of us. They'll go in scout, if it's safe they'll open the gates, if it's not they'll come out running. I'm not even sure why I'm asking this, I know whose going to volunteer. But volunteers, and Mariah you're not eligible yet," Rick told the new comer.

"I'll do it when I get better," Mariah told them.

"Volunteers?" Rick asked again.

Daryl, Jewel, Maggie, Glenn, T and Summer all raised there hands. "No surprises. Glenn, Maggie and Summer work well, Daryl you take lead."

Daryl nodded. "Got it."

"I'm not opening a box, I'm just saying that now," Summer told the group as Glenn started laughing.