This Night

Chapter 233

Author's Note: Woah, I'm over 1,000 reviews! I'm blown away! Keep them coming! They make me want to write more. Thank you all! Back to our not scripted show. Oh review please?

Glenn and Jes POV:

Glenn kept glancing up at Jes in the pharmacy, knowing that she didn't want to talk and he was trying to respect that. Any woman that could handle Merle Dixon the way she had earned his respect and well in all honestly, Jes could kick his ass by just looking at him.

Jes looked over at him. "Glenn, you obviously have something to say, just say it already. The whole looking at me when you think I'm not watching is creeping me out."

"I was trying to be stealthy," Glenn admitted as he went over to her.

"That needs some work," Jes informed him. "What is it Glenn? You got something to say, spit it out. I'm not going to kick your ass if I don't agree with you."

Glenn nodded. "Good to know. I know that you cared for Merle in a weird and twisted way that I'm not even going to pretend to try to understand. I also know that Abraham can take some getting used to."

Jes arched an eyebrow. "Glenn, I think I know where you are trying to go with this."

"Good, cause I'm not sure I know," he admitted to her.

"Whatever Merle and I had, it didn't need a label to it. We were two messed up people who grudgingly respected each other because we saw each other in the other person. I had issues with him, I disagreed with a lot of what he did, but everyone did. What he did to you, it was wrong and I told him that. He died a good man, a better man that he ever thought he deserved to be. Yes, I'm going to miss him, just like I'm going to miss Bob. Nothing more, nothing less," Jes explained.

Glenn nodded. "Alright. I, um, guess you dealt with a lot of men like Abraham in the Army," he said as he gathered supplies.

"You mean a man with a narcissistic personality? A pompus ass who thinks he knows everything and doesn't know anything? A dick head that doesn't listen to anything someone else has to say because God forbid he be wrong?" Jes asked as she looked at Glenn.

Glenn blinked and looked at her. "Um yeah, someone like that," he answered.

"Yeah, I've known a lot of people like that. Men and women," Jes told him. "You want to know what they all have in common?" she asked as she threw bandages in the bag.

Glenn looked at her. "What?"

"They either wind up dead or wind up getting people killed," Jes answered truthfully.

"Is that why you came with us? Because you think Abraham is going to get himself or us killed?" Glenn asked.

"Look Glenn, I like you," Jes told him.

"I like you too," Glenn responded.

Jes laughed. "What I mean is that I wasn't the type of person to get personally involved. My mission was always to make sure everyone got home. I was good at what I did because I didn't have any family, didn't make any personal ties with anyone. But, everyone that I went out with, I knew who was married, who was engaged, who had kids, whose parent just died because I wanted to know who was depending on me to get them back home too. When I saved Jewel from Woodbury, I knew she had her daughter to get home too. I let those lines get blurred somewhere a long the line and I started caring about you people. I'm still working out exactly how I feel about actually caring and having people care about me, it's new. I came Glenn because Abraham is reckless, because he's so focused on getting Eugene to Washington that he doesn't give a damn about who else makes it. We all have a family to get back to, and I'm going to do my best to make sure we all make it, even if I have to punch Abraham," she told him.

Glenn looked at her then hugged her. "You are part of this family too," he told her.

Jes pulled away and playfully hit his shoulder. "Seriously can do without this hugging thing," she fussed at him.

"Get used to it. Hugging is part of the package when you are part of a family," Glenn teased. "We better get going before Abraham comes looking for us," he told her.

Washington Group POV:

Jes jumped off the back of the fire truck and went out in front of it when Abraham stopped. "We out of gas?" she asked.

"No, we're not out of gas, good place to stop and regroup. Give this engine a little break," Abraham answered.

"You know, I know a little bit about engines, if it's giving you problems, I could look at it," Axel told him.

"I don't need help thank you very much," Abraham told him.

"Says the man who didn't know even know where the radiator intake was," Jes told him. She looked at Glenn. "Narcissistic," she told him. She looked at Axel and Glenn. "You smellin' that?"

"Whoa, what the hell is that?" Glenn asked.

David coughed as he took a bandana out and put it over his nose. "Shit, do we even want to know what's making that awful smell?"

"What?" Maggie asked.

"Winds picking up, you're about ready to smell it," Glenn told his wife.

"What is that?" Maggie asked.

"Whatever's making that stench, it ain't nothin' nice. We're not stopping'," Abraham told them.

Tara looked around. "Um, we are stopped," she pointed out.

Abraham jumped out of the fire truck and they all walked up the road a bit to see a lot of walkers coming out of farm areas.

"I think we should turn around," Axel suggested as he looked around.

"I agree, let's go," Glenn said as they turned around to leave. Abraham standing looking at the herd.

Jes glanced over her shoulder. "Of course," she mumbled.

"Abraham, come on," Rosita told him as she stopped. "Abraham, come on let's get out of here."

"Hold up," Abraham told the group.

Jes sighed. "Ford, holding up is the last thing we are going to do."

"We got to go," Maggie reiterated.

"No, no we don't. They can't hear us and they can't see us, not from here," Abraham told them. "We're fine."

Tara looked at the group. "Yeah, this is the definition of fine," she said.

"We need a map, there's got to be a detour," Glenn said.

"Detour is sounding like a solid idea right now if it means we don't have to go through that," David said with a wave of his hand.

"I'm not doing it. We detoured and detoured and detoured from Houston to Georgia. I'm not playing that game anymore," Abraham informed them.

Glenn looked at Jes as they both stepped forward to try and talk some sense into him. "We are not going through this, okay? It isn't gonna happen," Glenn told him.

"You got a shitstorm behind door A and a storm of shit behind door B. If you're lucky, it's walkers or a shot-up truck. But sooner or later you get cornered. You wind up stayin' and you wind up killin'. We don't go back. We can't go back," Abraham informed them.

"We go through that, one of us, some of us may die, it may even be Eugene. They," Jes said as she waved her hand to the herd, "they are the enemy. They are a bunch of hostiles with one desire, to destroy us. They see us as something that they have to destroy. Yeah, we can take a few out, but that, that is to many. That is when a smart Commander makes a damn decision to deviate from his orders, from his mission to keep his soldiers alive," she told him.

"Not doing it," Abraham said as he looked at the herd.

"I'm not talking about going back. Just south a few miles," Glenn said.

"We already hit a full stop 'cause of an air filter compromised by innards. That will happen again," Eugene said.

"He's right, and some of us are sitting in the back, a very vulnerable place to be when we're talking about those things," Axel responded.

"Then we'll hit them with the hose," Abraham told them.

"The tank is empty, Abraham," Rosita said.

"Then we floor it," Abraham continued.

"We still hit them, they still slow us down, and then they stop us," Glenn pointed out.

"I'm not saying we just go straight," Abraham told them.

"That's the way the road goes," Maggie said.

"Even if we go off the road, into the fields, there's a whole lot of them coming from either direction," Jes told him.

"We can get through! I know it! And that means we are not going south, going around, or going back!" Abraham yelled at them.

"No, they're right," Rosita said.

Abraham didn't say anything as he turned around back to the group. He grabbed Eugene's army and started pulling him.

"Abraham!" Rosita called after him as they all went after him.

Tara went to push Abraham and wound up getting pushed. David and Glenn both went to grab Abraham.

"Let go of him!" Glenn said.

"I'm not going to let you do this," Rosita told him.

"Yes you are," Abraham told them.

"You're done!" Glenn said as he went to pull him off Eugene.

"DO NOT, I told you not to put your hands on me," Abraham warned them.

Jes ran in front of them while they were all fighting and pointed her weapon at Eugene. "FORD! Step back or I'll put a bullet in his head," she told him calmly.

"Jes, what are you doing?" Glenn asked.

"You aren't thinking straight, Ford. You're so damn focused on getting him to Washington, damn everyone else, including yourself. I take out your objective, then you have no reason to be reckless," Jes told him.

"You wouldn't. He's going to save the damn world," Abraham told her as he kept his grip on Eugene's arm.

"That isn't going to mean a damn thing Ford if you risk his life and everyone else's getting him there. You are not thinking straightly, and I'm not letting you put any one else's lives in danger right now. Release his arm, then we go back to the truck and we talk about our next move. But it isn't going to be through that herd," Jes warned him.

Eugene looked at the group. "I'm not a scientist!" he yelled. "I'm not a scientist! I'm not a scientist! I lied. I'm not a scientist. I don't know how to stop it. I'm not a scientist," he told them as Abraham released his arm.

Jes lowered her gun. "That's what you were hiding," she said as the group looked in disbelief.

"You are a scientist, I've seen the things that you've done," Rosita told him.

"I just know things," Eugene admitted.

Glenn looked at him. "You…you just know things?"

"I know I'm smarter than most people, I know I'm a very good liar, and I know I needed to get to DC," Eugene told them.

Axel took a breath as he leaned against the truck. "I knew liars in prison, but this one…." he said as he shook his head.

"Why?" Maggie asked.

"Because I do believe that locale holds the strongest possibility for survival, and I wanted to survive. If I could cheat some people into taking me there, well, I just reasoned that I'd be doin' them a solid, too, considering the perilous state of the city of Houston, the state of everything," Eugene told them.

"People died trying to get you here," Rosita informed him almost in tears.

"People laid there hopes on you," Axel told him. "False hope."

"I'm aware of that…" Eugene told them. Stephanie, Warren, Pam, Rex, Roger, Josiah, Dirk, and Josephine. And Bob and Merle," he told them.

"Why did you continue the charade? After Terminus? After you saw Jewel, Judith and Hope? Why didn't you come clean? They were going to come with us, damn it!" Jes asked.

"If Daryl and Carol hadn't been gone, they would have," Maggie said.

Eugene looked ashamed. "You see, I lost my nerve as we grew closer,' he said as he struggled to keep his voice from breaking. "for I am a coward... and the reality of getting to our destination and disclosing e truth of the matter became some truly frightening shit. I took it upon myself to slow our roll. Find time to finesse things so then when we got there... But at this moment, I fully realize there are no longer any agreeable options. I was screwed either way. I also lied about T. Brooks Ellis liking my hair. I do not know T. Brooks Ellis. But I did read one of his books, and he seemed like the type of guy that wouldn't blink twice at a Tennessee Top Hat. Again... I am smarter than you. Now, you may want to leave me here," he said.

"You're right about that," David said. He had barley got the words out before Abraham started to hit Eugene pushing his head against the fire truck repeatedly.

"Get off him!" Glenn yelled as him and David pulled him off.

Abraham managed to get one more hit in before Eugene fell face forward on the ground. He started to go toward him again as Rosita blocked his way and kept her hand on her gun.

"Oh my God," Maggie said as she bent down.

"Axel get the bags out of the fire truck and start finding the first aid supplies," Jes ordered.

Abraham started walking away as Rosita bent down next to Maggie and Jes.

"Why are we going to waste supplies on a liar?" David asked.

Jes looked at him. "He's a survivor, just like you or me. He might have done it a different way then we would and it certainly don't excuse what he did but I'm not going to leave him here."

"Eugene, hey are you with us?" Rosita asked as she called his name.