This Night

Chapter 245

Author's Note: College student will be home from college for the next couple weeks, plus with Christmas coming up chapters may be slow. But, don't hate me! I keep you well stocked with chapters otherwise! Review please.

Group POV:

Jewel got out of the car as they stopped, stretching her legs. She looked as the other members of the group got out of the two vans. "Everyone doing alright?" she asked, as she joined Rick on the other side of the car.

"Yeah, we're doing alright," Daryl answered for his van.

"It feels good to get out and stretch our legs," Carol said.

"You should be resting," Ronnie told her.

"What's the plan?" Abraham asked.

"There's a small community about a mile up, thought we could go check it out. Clear it out if there's not to many," Glenn said.

"How many of us do you think should go?" Joey asked.

"Michonne, Abraham, Mar, Sasha, David, Beth, Summer and me should be good," Daryl said. "Glenn, Maggie, Tara , Rosita, Axel, Joey on supply lookout. Jes you alright staying back with the group?"

Jes shrugged. "I went last time, don't want to be greedy."

"Beth isn't going," Maggie said.

"You can't tell me what to do Maggie," Beth told her.

Jewel glanced at Rick. "Maggie, Daryl is leading this clearing, he wants Beth to go with the group, she's going."

"She isn't going," Maggie answered.

"Maggie," Glenn said.

"You are not my keeper, Maggie. I'm going," Beth said as she started to walk away.

"Beth Greene, you stop right there," Maggie said.

"Maggie, stop it," Rick warned.

Jewel sighed. "Alright change of plans, Summer you're going with Glenn's group, Maggie you and I are going to take a walk," she said as she kissed Rick.

"What?" Maggie asked as she felt Jewel grab her arm.

"You and I are going to take a walk, grab the water bottles," Jewel said.

Mar glanced at Daryl. "She's got her don't mess with me face on. Maybe I should go with them."

"Nah, Jewel's got this," Daryl said.

Maggie and Jewel's POV:

Maggie stopped by the stream and looked at Jewel. "Why did you bring me out here? I should be stopping Beth from going with Daryl. She doesn't need to be doing dangerous things like that when she could be helping with the kids."

Jewel looked up from the stream. "That's exactly why I brought you out here Maggie. You need to stop babying her."

Maggie looked at her. "Jewel this is Beth we're talking about. Beth," she repeated.

"I know who we're talking about Maggie. But I think we're talking about two different versions of Beth. Mitch told me about the messages you left for Glenn. For Glenn, not Beth. You didn't think she'd make it," Jewel told her. "Even after Daryl and Axel told you that she was with them for a while, you didn't ask about her, you didn't think about finding her. You figured it was easier to think of her as dead, because she wasn't strong enough to defend herself, strong enough to survive. I know all about missing siblings and how easy it is to think of them as dead, because it's just easier then that way. I'm not judging you for that, we all deal with things in our own way."

Maggie looked at her. "Jewel do you have a point?"

Jewel sighed. "Beth survived, not by luck, not by chance, but because she's strong. She isn't the same girl that tried to kill herself on the farm, or the same girl that we all depended on to watch Judith. She survived. She helped Noah escape, she stood up for herself. That isn't someone who is weak, or someone who can't survive. You're going to have to see her what she is now, instead of what she was or you're going to be losing her, and she'll be standing right in front of you."

Maggie sighed. "You don't know Beth, not like I do. She's my little sister, and she has no need to go clearing houses. There's plenty of us that can do that. She doesn't need to be putting herself in danger like that. There's other things that she can be doing."

"Like being a glorified babysitter?" Jewel asked as she looked at Maggie. "Maggie, I'm going to say this as clearly as I can. I'm going to be as honest as I can, because you're my friend. But if you hear it, I mean truly hear it, that's up to you. Getting Beth back, it's a miracle, just like Merle coming back was. I almost didn't give Merle the chance back in my life because I was seeing him as what he was and not what he could be, what he became. But, now that he's gone, I'm thinking about all the time that I could have had him in my life, even before this, because I couldn't accept him the way he was. He was a son of a bitch, but he was my son of a bitch brother," she said as she fought back the tears. "Beth is still the same sweet girl that we knew at the farm, that you've known for her whole life. But she's changed, just like we've all changed. And, if you won't allow yourself to accept that, and love her for that, then if something does happen to either one of you, the one that's left standing, well then that person is going to be handling a whole lot of guilt," she explained.

"Beth isn't Merle," Maggie pointed out.

Jewel nodded as she stood. "You're right, she's not. She's a whole lot sweeter then Merle ever hoped to be. But that doesn't mean the situation isn't the same. You have to trust her, you have to embrace what she's becoming, you have to accept it, because if you don't, a rift is going to come between you, and if you're lucky, she'll still be alive," she told her. Jewel turned as she heard a moaning of a lonely walker.

"I've got it," Maggie said.

"No, I've got it," Jewel said as she took off her knife. "Shut up," she said as she pushed her knife through the walker's head. She looked at Maggie. "Either one of you can be gone in a blink of an eye, all it takes is a minute, a second, and anybody can be gone. You know that as well as I do, Maggie. In a minute of hesitation, Hershel was gone. We didn't go back and take care of the Termites, and we lost Bob and Merle. And, the whole Washington thing with Eugene? One second you all were heading to Washington and saving the world, and then the next, it was nothing but a lie. One minute we were at the farm, or the prison, and," she snapped her fingers to make a point, "it was gone. So, is it worth you holding on to your pride to lose Beth one way or another?" she asked.

Maggie went over and hugged her. "It's alright," she said as she hugged her.

"I just don't want you to ever have the feeling of having things left unsaid. It's the worst feeling in the world," Jewel admitted.

"Let's go back to everyone, let's get back to Hope," Maggie said. "I'll talk to Beth."

"Yell if you have to, but don't leave things unsaid," Jewel urged her.

Beth and David's POV:

David glanced at Beth as they were clearing out the basement. "So tell me how you and I got stuck clearing out the creepy basement?"

Beth looked at him. "Are you scared? Don't worry, I'll protect you," she teased.

David looked at her. "Oh very funny," he told her.

"I'm glad you got reunited with Joey, it's kind of a miracle," Beth told him.

"Just like them finding you after being separated," David admitted. He stared at the closed door. "Tell me we can just pretend that isn't there," he told her.

Beth slammed the but of her rifle against the door.

David sighed. "A simple no would suffice. You know, I get that there's some tension between you and Maggie, but that doesn't mean you have to be a superwoman. You don't have a damn thing to prove to me. You and I have a perfectly clean slate."

Beth looked at him. "We're clearing, and clearing means clearing every room so there's no surprises. Daryl is expecting us to do just that, top to bottom. He trusts all of us to do that, everyone doing there part. That's what we do to keep everyone safe," she said as she banged on the door again.

"You're pretty good at this, so why did Maggie want you to stay behind?" David asked.

Beth opened the door after not hearing anything. "Maggie sees me as the same weak girl that tried to kill herself back at our farm. I watched Judy all the time back at the prison, I didn't mind."

David looked around the room. "Alright, so someone had a stock pile of weapons…" he commented seeing empty shelves, except for stray ammo and a couple weapons. He looked at the closet. "Let me guess? We need to check that?"

"You're learning," Beth said with a small grin as she went forward.

"Stop, let me do it," David told her. "You're going to make me look bad," he said as he went to the door and used his weapon. "In a couple weeks you've changed?"

"I've been changing, but we had the walls to protect us. Then the prison fell, and Daryl, Axel and me was on the road, and we all had to do our part. Then being taken and at Grady, and Dawn calling me weak, and seeing what was happening at Grady, I knew I had to be strong," she explained. "Now that I'm back, Maggie just wants me to go back to the same girl I was, or what she thinks I am. I can't do it, I won't do it."

David opened the door and looked down and took a breath as he saw a couple rolled up blankets. "I know that smell, those are a couple dead people in there," he said as he held his shirt up to his nose and bent down. He held his knife up and unwrapped partially. "Someone shot them, rolled them up, left them in here. Saw this a lot when I was out on the road. People didn't have groups or families, they made a pact, killed each other or did it there own. We always left them, went looking for some place else. I suggest we do that now."

Beth had already turned to go to the bottom of the stairs. "Daryl, we need you down here," she yelled up. "We're not leaving them," she said.

Daryl and Mar came down the stairs. "Found a couple dead ones upstairs, someone took them out." Daryl said.

"We have two down here. No walkers?" Beth asked.

"No," Mar responded. "Michonne and Abraham said the garage was clear too. It'll be good for the night, found a lot of blankets, got a few rooms, some food."

"A few stray weapons in here," David said. "So, Beth already shot this idea down, but when I was out on the road and we found dead people, we'd leave them and move on. Just a suggestion."

"A shitty one," Daryl told him.

"They aren't walkers, so we take them out and we try to give them a proper resting spot," Mar said.

"Why?" David asked.

"Because, they were somebody. Somebody cared enough to not let them turn," Mar answered.

"Everyone of those things were somebody. It's a waste of time and energy," David said. "I get it that Bob and Merle deserved it because they were family, and the girl back at Grady because she sacrificed herself for Beth and Noah. But people who we just find?" David asked.

"Jewel came up with that rule, the first time we were on the road. We found a house with a mother, and two kids, not much older then Mitch. We were running, but Jewel wouldn't leave that house until they were buried. Kind of became our go to thing if it was clear," Mar said.

"Just like Glenn with burying the ones in our group," Daryl said. "Now if you'd like have an argument with Jewel over the logistics of this, I'll say it's been nice knowing you and I'll dig an extra grave for you," Daryl said as he picked up the walkie talkie. "Rick, you there?"

"Go ahead," Rick's voice came through.

"It's all clear up this way. Third house in the cul-de-sac," Daryl said. "Sasha is out on the front porch."

"We're on our way," Rick said as he ended the conversation.

"Glenn," Daryl said as he made contact with him.

"We heard, we're heading back. Nothing much, did find some batteries and a few cans of tuna fish and very stale crackers," Glenn reported.

"We've got five dead bodies," Daryl told him.

"Got it. Does it look clear up there?" the other man asked.

"Yes. We may have to dig an extra grave since David isn't agreeing with the way we handle things. Suggested he talk with Jewel," Daryl said with a smirk.

"In the mood Jewel's in? Yeah, tell him it was nice knowing him," Glenn said.

David looked at Beth. "They're kidding right?"

Beth smiled. "No, they aren't," she said as she walked up the stairs.