Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

Chapter 138

Author's Note: Jewel is getting very impatient to be let out of quarantine and reunited with Rick. It's the least I owe her because I know what's going to happen when the Governor arrives. I'm not letting her out this chapter, maybe next. Please review.

The sick group POV:

Ronnie stopped as she heard the unmistakable sounds of walker moans coming from a cell. "Damn it…Hershel! Sasha! Glenn! Mar! Anyone!" she yelled as she turned around and took out her knife.

"What's the matter?" Mar asked as she and Mitch came out of the cell.

"Listen, someone's turned. Mitch go down to Lizzie's cell and stay there. Lock yourselves in," Ronnie ordered.

"I can help," Mitch told them.

Mar turned and looked at him. "Mitch, I need you to go help with the other kids, I need you to listen and be safe," Mar said as she kissed his head. "Can you do that for me?" she asked.

"Yes," Mitch answered.

"Do you have your knife?" Mar asked him.

"Yes," he answered as he showed it to her. He quickly turned and went to down the hall.

Ronnie took a breath and followed the moans to a locked cell. "Ellie…" she said as took a breath.

"I tried….to put her down," the two women heard a voice behind them said.

Ronnie closed her eyes before turning around. She knew what she was going to find before she even reopened them "Taylor…" Ronnie said as she bent down, seeing the girl had been bit on the shoulder.

Mar took a breath as Hershel came up. "You should have called someone Taylor," Mar said softly.

"I didn't want Ronnie to have to do it….and you know as well as I do, that you would have. I thought I could get her body downstairs….do it and then tell you guys. She must have…I mean…been dead longer then I thought. I had her almost out of the cell when she came back….I had my knife….raised, but I hesitated. Hesitation…that's what gets you killed…that's what Ridge taught us. Should have listened better. She got me….dropped my knife. I managed to kick her…get her back in the cell. I was trying to stand up when I saw you guys."

Ronnie touched her face. "Sweetheart, I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

Taylor shook her head. "None of us would have…made it…with out you or Ridge. You kept us alive….don't ever doubt that. We were lucky….to have you."

"No, we were lucky to have you. You all saved us," Ronnie told the younger girl.

"Just…feel bad….leaving you alone….now," Taylor said.

Hershel bent down beside her. "She's not alone, Taylor. She's got us, she's got family. You don't have to worry about that, we'll watch out for her, just like she watched out for you. You don't stress yourself out over that."

"I…want to do it myself," Taylor told Ronnie.

"No, sweetheart, I'll do it. You don't need to do something like that, I'm here, I can do it. I know it needs to be done," Ronnie told the young woman.

Taylor shook her head. "I remember…how much it haunted Ridge after he put down…Kim. Can't let you live with that. I know what needs to be done, got to do it before I turn. I don't want…to put anyone else in danger. Please Ronnie. I'll go in a cell, use the silencer."

"I'll be right outside," Ronnie told her as she helped the girl up. "You aren't alone," she told her as she handed her the gun.

Taylor gave a smile. "We all…loved you and Ridge…like we were your own."

"You were ours," Ronnie told her as she closed the cell door.

Later that afternoon:

Summer looked over at the gate that cars used to come in and out and shook her head. She walked over to Rick, Merle and Maggie. "They're building up over there too. We've got major problems when they get back from the run."

Rick sighed. "We're barley keeping this one up," he said as he nodded to the gate they were reinforcing.

"Think that gate should be the priority, don't you Officer Friendly? That medicine aint gonna do anyone any good if we can't get it inside," Merle pointed out.

Summer sighed. "If those things get through this side of the fence, we're all doomed."

"Either way, we need to figure out a plan before they get back and can't get in," Maggie said.

Merle looked at Summer. "How's your throwin' arm?"

Summer looked at him. "Why do I have a feeling I'm not going to like where this idea is going Uncle Merle?"

"Do you mind sharing what ever is going on in that twisted mind of yours Merle?" Maggie asked.

Merle glanced at her. "Really Farmer's Daughter, with the insults now?"

"Uncle Merle, that isn't really an insult, you do have a twisted mind. Take it as a compliment, considering that you are on our side now. But, since none of us is privy to that weird road map of a brain of yours, you're going to have to share," Summer told him.

"We get some of those grenades', have you stand on one of those busses, when we see the group comin' up, you clear a path," Merle explained.

"I had to ask, didn't I?" Summer asked.

Rick shook his head. "It's risky."

"Like Hershel said, everythin' we do now a days is a risk," Merle said.

"What about this gate?" Maggie asked.

"We might have to let it go," Rick answered as a gun shot rang out in the other cell block.

Summer and Maggie both looked at that direction. "I have a feeling things just went bad…" Summer said.

Maggie looked at them. "Rick."

"Go," Rick told her as she ran in that direction. "Merle you get her up on that bus, don't make a move until you see them."

"Dad you can't handle this on your own," Summer said.

"I'm not, I'm going to get Carl and Lexi. We all got jobs to do, this is yours. You concentrate on that, don't be distracted by what's going on here," Rick told her as he kissed the top of her head. "Love you."

"I got her," Merle said. "Come on short stuff, let's show them how us Dixon's do things."

Merle and Summer's POV:

Summer looked over her shoulder as she heard the gun shots coming from the other gate.

"Eyes front," Merle told her from beside her. "Officer Friendly and those kids are takin' care of that, we're lookin' out for the rescue team," he told her.

"See anything yet?" Summer asked.

"Nope, if I did, I'd be telling' you and directin' you to throw those grenades," Merle told her. "I was surprised when you and Officer Friendly came back without Carol, didn't think either one of you had the guts to do it."

"You didn't hear her….you didn't look into her eyes as she explained it. She even said she couldn't say she wouldn't have done it if it was mom," Summer said. "Maybe when things calm down, when Tyreese and Ronnie know….when they get a chance to forgive her, she can come back. We don't get to be the same people we were before, and maybe for some of us that's a good thing," she said as she glanced at Merle.

"Very funny," Merle told her. "I'm tryin' Summer, tryin' to be what I needed to be a long time ago. Makin' up for things," he said. "You have to live with the decisions you make, be alright with it. You and Officer Friendly did what you both thought you had to do to protect those you loved. Don't try and second guess yourself, it'll only eat you up. I regret things I did, before, and at Woodbury," he said.

"Like beating up Glenn? Bein' an ass to mom?" Summer asked teasingly.

"Aint no denying you're a Dixon with that attitude," Merle said. "Yeah, but I regret other things. Killin' people for the Governor."

"You would have killed Glenn and Maggie," Summer said softly.

"Yeah, I would have, cause he told me too," Merle simply answered. "There's some things I don't regret."

Summer glanced at him. "Like what?"

Merle looked at her. "You don't need to know that."

"Then you shouldn't have brought it up," Summer told him. "Spill."

"You're mother is gonna kill me," Merle said with a sigh. "The man that raped her, he was at Woodbury when I got there. Vouched for me with the Governor. More time I spent with him, more I realized what had happened, what she tried to tell me years ago. I took care of him, something I should have done when she was a teenager."

Summer looked at him. "Am I like him?"

Merle had to laugh. "Summer Dixon, you aint nothing' like that bastard. You've got the best of us Dixon's in you, sometimes better then your mother. You are her daughter, girl. Don't you ever wonder about that bastard, cause he aint worth your time."

Summer looked out in the field. "Car's coming," she said as she turned her attention to the lack of gun fire. "Hope that means they are coming to help us."

Merle raised the binoculars up. "Alright, throw that first one as far as you can to your left. Get those bastards attention, clear a path for the car," he said as he saw Rick, Carl and Lexi coming from the other side. "Perfect timing, get ready to open the gate!"

Summer watched the three of them run down to the gate before she threw the first one.

"Hey, come on follow the noise!" Carl yelled.

"Over here! That's it!" Lexi yelled. "You don't want anything in that car!"

"Same direction, further out," Merle told her as she did it. "Open the gate Officer Friendly!" he said as he fired his weapon with a silencer on it taking down a stray walker not distracted by the noise.

Group POV:

Summer jumped off the bus and ran to the gate as the car pulled through. "Uncle Daryl, did you really have to take the time to car shop while you were out? I mean that car was pretty nice," she teased as she watched him get out.

"She's not a Dixon, not at all," Jes said.

"Ty!" Lexi said as she ran to him.

"Sasha?" Ty asked as he hugged Lexi.

"Last time I heard, she's holding on. Maggie just went inside, we heard a gun shot, not sure what's going on. Hershel went inside yesterday," Rick explained.

"I went and checked on Mar and Mitch yesterday, they were doing alright," Merle said as he gave Daryl a half hearted hug.

"Where's Carol?" Axel asked.

Rick took a breath. "Hershel needs these supplies, sooner we get them up there, sooner we can get everyone healthy and those in quarantine out. I personally know that Jewel is going stir crazy, and probably driving Michonne insane. Daryl, Mar and Mitch would love to see you," Rick told him. "Axel, I need to talk to you and Daryl tomorrow, but right now we got jobs to do. The rest of you if you aren't helping, go get some rest," he ordered.

Bob started to unload the car as he handed Axel a bag. "Let's go," Bob told them.

Joey smiled at Summer. "Hey you," he greeted.

"Hey, everything go alright out there?" Summer asked.

"We all came back alive, can't ask for more then that," Joey said as he walked with her. "Things go alright in here?"

"Go get cleaned up, then can we talk?" Summer asked.

"Yeah, we can talk anytime, you know that," Joey said as he kissed her softly. "See you in a few," he told her as he walked away.

Author's Note: That ends the main flu epidemic. I'm going to be checking in with everyone but the whole Lizzie 'here Henry' thing happened but isn't shown. I want all my babies back together before mean old Gov shows up and ruin things!