Better Days

Chapter 271

Author's Note: Good times in Alexandria are just starting. I'm having fun! Well my people are having fun. They are ready to kick some Alexandrian's but! Please review.

Jes and Joey's POV:

Joey glanced at Jes as she walked to the armory. "Hey, you're already giving up on this place?" he asked her as he caught up with her.

"Going to the guard tower. Not spending a night in this place without a proper guard in place. These people can do whatever the hell they want, but you guys are in here, and as long as we stay, I'll stand guard every night if I have too," Jes said.

"I'll go with you," Joey offered.

"Joey, I'm not going anywhere but the guard tower. I'll be back in the morning. You got a job yet?" Jes asked.

"No, but I haven't had my interview yet," Joey responded. "You?"

"No, I don't think Deanna is up to being challenged. She doesn't know what to do with me, probably Daryl or Abraham either. We're the wild cards, the ones that aren't going to put on a mask and pretend to be something we aren't. She doesn't see Jewel as a threat, she's just a mother wanting what's best for her cubs," Jes told him.

"Have you seen Carol's get up?" Joey questioned.

"You mean Miss. Happy Homemaker? God if they only knew," Jes answered with an eye roll. "She's trying to blend in, catch them off guard. Don't fault her for it, but she wouldn't have been my first choice. Mar or Summer or Beth would have been better. They can pull off sweet, Carol may be able to do it, but she'll fight when needed," Jes told her. "Head's up," she said as she nodded toward Nicholas and another man approaching.

"You two leaving already? I can't say I'm surprised that you aren't able to follow rules," Nicholas told Jes.

Jes looked at him. "Lucky for you, I can. Otherwise your head would be blown to pieces and we would have taken over. Oh, I'm not giving you the satisfaction of leaving, Nicholas. I'm going to stay just to annoy you. Right now, I'm just going to go replace the dummy in the tower."

"We've never had to have a full twenty four hour guard on it before," the other man said.

"There are threats outside that gate," Joey answered.

"Maybe I'm looking at a threat that my mother let in," the man answered.

"Your mother is Deanna Monroe?" Jes answered.

"That's right, I'm Aiden," the man introduced himself.

"Well, I'm heading out to the guard tower. Joey tell Rick I'm out there for the night," Jes said as she turned to go.

"Wait up, you can't just do things like that without clearing it with my mother," Aiden told her as he grabbed her arm.

Jes turned around and restrained herself from hitting him. "GET. YOUR. HAND. OFF. OF. ME. NOW," she told him.

"Let her go," Joey told him. "The only reason she hasn't punched you right now is that she knows that everyone, especially those babies we came in with, are better off with her here then back out there."

"I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of hitting you and risking getting kicked out," Jes said as she saw Abraham and Rosita coming from one side and an unknown woman coming from the other.

"Aiden, get your hands off of her right now. If you don't, I'll punch you myself," Quinn told him.

"Quinn stay out of it," Aiden told her.

"The woman said to get her hands off of her, do it now," Abraham warned him.

Quinn pushed Aiden back. "I said back off and I mean it," she told him. "You too, Nicholas. Stand over there, both of you. Don't you even think about moving, because if you think mom's not going to hear about this, you're both dead wrong," she said. "If they try to move, restrain them," she told Abraham.

"Yes ma'am. I don't even know who you are, but I like you," Abraham said.

"Easy big boy," Rosita told him.

Quinn laughed. "Quinn Bledsoe, Deanna's oldest child and this douche bag's sister," she said as she turned. "You're Jes right? Joey? Abraham? And Rosita?" she questioned as she saw the questioning looks. "Eric is very good at describing people. Plus we don't get a whole lot of people in here, and especially not a group who makes an appearance by dropping a dummy over the wall. Which by the way, was a very good strategic move. I've been telling mom and my other brother Spencer that we need more eyes on that tower," she told them.

"We don't. Don't you see that they could easily take over the town?" Aiden asked her.

Quinn glanced at Aiden. "You're just scared because there are people here that may actually know how to do a supply run and get everyone back alive. Now shut up," she told him as she turned around. "Sorry, Aiden and I haven't got a long since the day he learned to speak."

Joey looked at her then at Jes and Abraham and Rosita. "She remind you of anyone?"

"I was thinking the same thing, except she's not blond," Rosita answered.

"She's also the oldest and not the youngest," Jes said.

"I think you're gonna get along well with the co leader of the group, Jewel. One of the toughest broads I've met, gave birth in this shit hole world and still managed to keep us all in line," Abraham told her.

"I'm looking forward to meeting her. I've got two teenage girls at my house right now looking through all the baby clothes we've collected on supply runs through the years," Quinn told them. She looked at Jes and the gun. "You aren't leaving are you?"

"No, I'm just going to stand on guard duty. Not comfortable with my family being in here without someone looking out over the walls," Jes responded. "And, I'm not putting dummy back up there."

Quinn nodded. "You are going to make a wonderful addition to Alexandria. I hope one day you can consider us as part of the family. I know that I feel safer with you out there tonight, watching over Alexandria and my girls," she said.

"You only have one girl, Quinn. You've just brought in a stray into your house," Aiden told her.

"She's not a dog, Aiden. She's a twelve year old girl who said goodbye to her brother while he went on a supply run with the two of you, and didn't return, along with three others," Quinn told him.

"I wouldn't be usin' the word stray around us, little man. We've got a few kids that's lost there parents, siblings, and we're all they have," Abraham told him.

"What would you want your sister to do? Turn her out, alone, out there? Make her live on the streets?" Rosita asked. "You wouldn't make it in our group, neither one of you, but I'd have no problem with Quinn. She'd be able to hold her own," she added.

"How the hell can you tell that in a five minute conversation?" Nicholas asked.

Jes puffed. "I could tell in three seconds that I really wish I had put a bullet in your brain," she told her. "Now, it's going to be dark soon, and I'd rather be in the watch tower when that happens. Tell Rick and Jewel where I am. I'll be in the morning to check in," she told them as she waited for the gate to open then shut.

"We should be heading back to the house, Joey. Jewel wanted to do a head count at dark," Rosita told him.

"You're all adults, I don't think you need to be counted," Nicholas said.

"Can you just shut up?" Quinn told him. "Let's go, we're having a discussion with mom. Nice to meet you all. I hope you won't let the opinion of these two idiots sour you on Alexandria. We're not that bad when you really get to know us," she told them. "Come on, I'm sure mom is just going to love how the two of you were intimidating our new town people."

"She might be the only one around here with a lick of sense," Abraham told them.

"I'm feeling like I want to be on that supply team. Glenn is, I'll talk with Deanna tomorrow," Joey said as they walked back to the house.

Carol, Mar and Jewel's POV:

Mar untangled Judith's fingers from her hair and kissed her nose. "Hopefully you can start crawling if we stay," she told her.

"That would be nice," Jewel said as they approached the pantry. "You know I could stay out here while you two go in."

Carol looked at her. "It's all about appearances. You don't have to apologize, but we need to at least make it look like you aren't bothered by it."

"The only one bothered by it is you Carol," Jewel told her as she walked in.

Mar looked at Carol. "You know Jewel. What you see is what you get. She's not going to pretend for anyone," she said as she walked in.

Carol plastered a smile on her face as she walked in. She smiled as she saw people turn to look at them.

Jewel adjusted Hope as she saw Jessie approach. "Great," she mumbled.

"Easy," Mar told her.

"Jewel, can we talk for a minute?" Jessie asked as she approached the women.

Jewel looked at the other blond. "Go ahead, we've got no secrets in this group."

"After I left, I realized how it must look. Me standing there and just running my mouth like I was talking to just another person in Alexandria, that it was just a normal day. But, it wasn't, not for all of you, and you all must feel like you stepped in some kind of whacked out dream," Jessie said.

Jewel glanced at Carol. "It is something that we need to get used to, but thank you for that," she said.

Jessie nodded as she smiled at Judith. "This is something that we never thought we'd see again. Babies."

Mar smiled. "This is Judith, I'm Mar," she said.

"Carol," Carol introduced herself.

"I'm Jessie. I can't imagine how you all survived with babies out there. And the amount of children that you came with, that's just amazing. Is there something that I can help you with?" Jessie asked. "Alright, I know I shouldn't, but I'm dying to ask to hold one of these precious girls."

Mar saw the brief reaction in Jewel's face at the idea of someone that she didn't know hold Hope. "Judith is good with people," Mar said as she handed Judith over. "She's in a hair pulling phase."

Carol gave a small smile. "We were hoping that you'd have diapers small enough to fit Hope. Or at least cloth that we could make some. And some pins."

"You'd use cloth diapers?" Jessie asked. "I would never have been able to use them on my boys."

Jewel looked at her. "Well, in this world, you do what you have to do, make do with what you have. It's easier to get your hands on cloth then baby diapers when you're scavenging houses, just looking for things to help you make it one day to the next. Not everyone has the luxury of living with a fully packed store at there hands. Not having to worry if your children have enough to eat, or your feet hurt so bad but you aren't going to say a word, because your family is in the same situation. So using cloth diapers, that's the least of my worries. But of course, what ever you have, we'll be greatly appreciative for," she said, not letting her eyes leave Jessies.

"Of course. We can always tell the supply teams to look for diapers now too," Jessie said as she went with Jewel leaving Mar and Carol behind. "Jewel, it's alright for you not to be alright with this yet."

Jewel looked at her. "I'm sorry?"

"No one expects you all to openly forget what you've been through. Or to trust us with open arms. It's alright to be shell shocked," Jessie told her.

"Shell shocked? That's what you think I am?" Jewel asked as she laughed. "You don't even have a clue what we've been through. You can't imagine it. I don't want you to have to imagine it. I wish I could have the luxury of being naïve like all of you in here," she said.

Mar grabbed Carol's arm, letting Jewel say her peace.

"I know in your own weird way, you're trying to help. That you think if you tell us it'll be alright, that we'll believe you. And, it's not, Jessie. It's not going to make me forget the hell that's out there. It's not going to make me forget that there's always someone out there that wants what you have," Jewel told her as she picked up the cloth. "Thank you for this," she said as she struggled with fighting back the tears.

Jessie touched her arm. "I'm here to talk," she told her. "I fix a good margarita."

Mar went to take Judith. "She's an alcoholic," she told the other woman.

"And I just put my foot in my mouth again. You should bring the kids over in a couple days, my son Ron is about your son's age," Jessie told her.

"Yeah, we'll see," Jewel said as she turned to go.

"Thank you for your kindness," Carol said as she walked out. "Jewel?"

"I don't know what happened back there, all of a sudden it was like I couldn't control my emotions," Jewel answered.

"You've stopped running, fighting, and it's caught up to you. Let's get home, we'll tell Ronnie and Rick," Carol said as she put her arm around her.