This Night

Chapter 242

Author's Note: Thank you for all the reviews! And people are still finding this story! Yay! Keep reviewing. I think we need team family bonding time don't you? Review please.

Team Family POV:

Daryl led the group to the building. "Fifth and sixth floors are cleared. Got rooms to spread out if we need it," he said.

"I think we'd all like to be together right now, Daryl. We're finally back together," Jewel said as she squeezed Beth's hand as she passed her. "Though we can lock Eugene and Gabriel in a room together, they both deserve each other," she said loud enough for Gabriel to hear.

"Be good," Carol said as she playfully hit Jewel's shoulder as Ty helped her.

"He's still alive isn't he?" Jewel asked.

"We need cots or something for Carol to lie down on. Beth should lay down too," Ronnie said.

"On it," Daryl said. "Lexi, Carl, Mitch, Mika, come on help me," he said. "Joey, you and David put down the food and baby stuff."

Summer took Judith from Carl. "Ronnie found lot's of formula and bottles for you and Hope," she said as she touched Judith's hair.

Axel made his way over to Beth. "I'm glad you're alright. He didn't want to stop running after the car, we ran until we couldn't run anymore," he said as he hugged her.

"Let's baracade the stairs with something," Jes told some of the group.

Glenn nodded. "I'm on it," he said.

Jewel glanced back at Rick who was talking with Abraham. She bent down and put Hope in a car seat Ronnie had brought back. "Mar can you watch her for a minute?" she asked as she put a pink beanie on Hope's head.

"Yes of course," Mar said. "Silly mommy even having to ask. We're all here to watch you," she said as she bent down. "Yes."

Michonne grinned as she bent down. "Like we'd let you and Judy out of our sights, huh cutie?"

Jewel shook her head. "Silly question," she said as she went over to Rick and Abraham. "Am I interrupting something?" she asked.

"No, just discussing Washington," Rick said as he kissed her.

"I'll go see what I can find to help with," Abraham said.

Rick smiled. "Can I help you with something, Mrs. Grimes?"

Jewel smiled as she kissed him. "I want you to realize what you did today, Mr. Grimes," she said as she nodded to the group.

"I had help," Rick told her.

Jewel nodded as she kissed him. "I know. But we would have never gotten this far without you. We wouldn't have became what we are, Rick, without you," she said as she touched his face.

"I wanted to go in there guns blazing, take them all down. Tyreese and Daryl had another idea. Summer needed this to work. And, it still got an innocent fifteen year old child killed," Rick said.

"I'm not just talking about this Rick," Jewel said. "Look around," she said as she nodded to the group. "This would have never happened under Shane's guard. You cared about all of us, and you started this. This is a family, Rick. This is why we kick every groups asses that we come upon, because you helped make us into something more then just people surviving," she told him.

Rick kissed her. "Not everyone made it, Bob, Merle…" he started to say.

Jewel kissed him to interrupt him. "But Beth and Carol made it. You can't let it eat at you. Bob wasn't your fault. And Merle, it wasn't my fault either. Right now, right here, this is what Hershel would say was a good day."

"You're something else, you know that Mrs. Grimes?" Rick asked her as he kissed her again, holding her around the waist.

"Hey enough of that. Don't make me go find a hose," Daryl said as he came back with the kids and blankets and pillows. "Got some for you too, Jewel."

"Daryl! I can't believe you just interrupted like that!" Beth said.

"I can," Jewel answered. "I dare you to find a hose, I'll turn it on you."

"I'll help you with that," Mar said as she laughed.

"I think we could all use the hose at this point," Lexi said. "We're all a little ripe."

Hope fussed a little as everyone laughed. "I think she just said 'speak for yourself," Summer said with a laugh.

"Told by a one and half week old," Jes said. "Yeah, she's a Dixon alright," she said.

Rick helped Jewel sit down and sat down behind her. "Hey, she's got Grimes in her too," he said.

Glenn looked around. "We're together," he said, sounding as he was surprised.

"Not all of us," Sasha said from a corner.

Summer squeezed her shoulder. "She's right, but they wouldn't want us to give up. They'd want us to keep moving, find a place, make it home. We did that at the prison, we can do it again."

"She's right," Michonne said. "No matter how long it takes, we will."

Glenn looked at Rick. "Any ideas?" he asked.

Rick rubbed Jewel's back and shook his head. "No," he answered honestly.

"Noah wants to go home to Richmond, he says it has walls, that it's safe. Maybe we could try there?" Beth asked.

"Beth it's a pipe dream that it's even still standing," Maggie said.

"Isn't everything now a days a pipe dream?" Summer asked. "Living moment from moment, hoping something goes right Maggie? I needed this to go right, to get Carol and Beth back, to give me some sign that death isn't all it has to be. They're back, both of them. I think we should try for Richmond. We've been all over Georgia and then some, we know what's out there, nothing good. We'd only be looking back, maybe it's time to look forward, move on."

Mar nodded. "Tell us about Richmond, Noah."

Noah looked around at the group, not sure what to say.

"Can't be afraid to talk around us, Noah. They're not as scary as they may look. Daryl there is a big old teddy bear," Beth teased.

"Watch it Greene," Daryl teased back, with a smirk

"The point is not to scare him guys," Joey said.

Judith cooed in Carl's arms. "See she wants to hear it about it too," he said as he bounced her.

"It's a walled in community, Shirewilt Estates. My mom, dad, little twin brothers lived there before all this. There's only about twenty people or so. My dad and I went searching for my Uncle, that's how we wound up in Atlanta. The people from Grady left my dad to die, took me, underestimated me, just like they underestimated Beth and Riley," Noah said.

"Do you think it's got a chance to even be there?" Mika asked.

"I hope so," Noah said.

"It would be a long trip," Rosita said.

"Washington was going to be a long trip," Glenn pointed out.

"Who knows if this is going to be another dead end road," Abraham groused.

"Hey, we were willing to take that road with you," Tara said. "You got another place to be? Something more important?" she asked.

"No he doesn't," Rosita said.

"I can answer for myself," Abraham said.

Daryl went to reach for a cigarette as he looked at Abraham. "Well, do you?"

"Daryl, you are not lighting up that cigarette up around this baby!" Mar warned him.

"Seriously Mar? Hell Raiser is going to smell a lot worse then cigarette smoke," Daryl told her.

"Hell Raiser?" Beth asked. "Did you give her that nick name Daryl?"

"Merle did…before he died," Jewel said as Rick rubbed her back.

"Did he get bit?" Beth asked.

"Bethie, this isn't the time," Maggie told her.

"No, Maggie, she has a right to know, her and Carol both. Merle died protecting me. We ran into bad people, at a place called Terminus. Not all of us made it there, you were already taken by that point, Lizzie and Molly died while they were with Summer, Carol, Joey and Ty. The bus crashed, Mika and I were the only two that got out alive. We all saw signs for Terminus, those who arrive, survive. Yeah, survive my ass," Jewel said with a shake of her head.

Rick kissed the side of her neck. "Jewel gave birth to Hope there, with Mika's help."

"They seemed real nice, they gave us food and took care of Jewel," Mika said. "But they were crazy," she added.

"You either joined them or you became food," Jes answered.

"What?" Beth asked.

"I think this is enough talk right now," Maggie said.

"Maggie, stop. I'm not a kid anymore alright? I want to hear it. I want to know all that's happened. Stop interrupting," Beth told her as Maggie looked at her.

"Cannibals, they were cannibals," Daryl said. "Bob, Rick, Glenn, Jewel and I almost became food, but Carol and Summer played he women and got us out," he said.

"With a little help from me and Merle," Jes said. "I got Mika and Hope out, Merle and I were able to use Carol and Summer's distraction, and was able to help them over the fences."

"But we left some of them alive," Sasha said.

"And they came back, as they always do," Summer said.

"Bob had got bitten on a supply run, didn't tell any of us. He went outside to take a moment to himself," Ty said.

"They grabbed him," Lexi said as she looked down at the ground.

"They cut off his leg, ate it in front of him," Sasha said angrily. "Then dropped him in front of the church. Daryl and Carol had already left after the car like Daryl and Axel had seen."

Beth looked at them. "Oh God," she said as she put her hand up to her mouth.

"Mom and Uncle Merle was missing too," Summer said.

"Merle and I had just went outside, to walk the perimeter of the church. I was with my big brother, nothing was supposed to happen," Jewel said. "I had killed a woman at Terminus, Claire. She was trying to take Hope, raise her as her own. Claire's father was waiting in the shed. He grabbed me, made Merle take off his prosthetic and knocked him out, tied me to a chair, hit me a few times," she said as Rick squeezed her arm. "Merle woke up, they struggled for the gun, he was killed. I had been able to get free and killed Grayson," she said as she started to cry.

"Jewel I'm so sorry," Beth said as she hugged her. "Daryl, I can't imagine," she said. "What happened with Bob?"

"The rest of the Terminus people put him outside the church, he lived through the night," Summer said.

"We took care of the rest of them," Rick said. "They can't live, not after that," he said. "So does getting Noah home sound like a plan everyone can agree to?"

"Sounds like the best one we have," Michonne said.

"It's going to be a long, dangerous trip," Abraham commented.

"We're used to those types," Rosita answered.

"We'll need at least two more cars, that fire truck isn't going to make it," Jes said.

"No busses, please. They seem to have a habit of flipping over," Jewel said as Hope started to fuss. "Oh, what are you getting hungry? Or are we all ignoring you?"

"Oh, she knows better then that," Summer said.

"We'll need extra gas too," Carol added.

"Hey, I thought you were sleeping. You're supposed to be sleeping," Ronnie fussed at her.

"I'm resting," Carol said.

"So, we'll find two more cars or big vans tomorrow, blow this popsicle stand," Abraham said.

Rick nodded. "Hopefully to find a new place," he said as he kissed Jewel.