Better Days

Chapter 302

Author's Note: I had a dear friend pass, and that's taken the wind out of me. Here I am for another chapter. OK I just heard a rumor that Harold Perraneu (Michael from Lost) is going to play Ezekial in season 7. SEE, I'm not the only one who thinks that Lost people are good. As long as they DON'T cast Jewel or Jes (or Sayid who I have at Hilltop) Please review.

Daryl, Mitch, Summer and Mar's POV:

Mitch rolled his eyes as Mar cooked breakfast. "I don't understand why I have to go to school, it's stupid."

Daryl leaned with his back to the counter. "This is your job and you need to do it. You are going to walk with Mika to school, you are going to keep that but in the chair, and you are not going to give your momma a hard time while I'm recruiting. Got it?"

"I got it," Mitch sighed.

Mar gave a smile. "It won't be to bad, you may even like it."

Mitch sighed. "I seriously doubt that, these kids need to learn survival. Take Sam for instance, he locks himself inside a closet when things get scary. That's not going to help him if a herd takes over this place."

Summer came in and sat on a stool, not saying a word.

Mar glanced at Daryl. "Summer? Everything alright?" she asked.

"No," Summer answered as she took a bite of breakfast.

"Summer Grace, you know better than to lie to family. You've got the Dixon pissed off look going. Seen it often enough to know it. Now, want to try answerin' that question again?" Daryl asked.

"Deanna. She says she gets it, what we've been through, but she doesn't. She wants us to trust her, but she doesn't trust us," Summer answered.

"You had it out with her this morning?" Mar asked.

"Sasha was going to the tower, alone. I stopped to talk to her, Deanna came to give her a gun and bullets, asked me to leave so she could talk to her, but Sasha told her I could stay. Then Deanna tried to tell Sasha what mom did was wrong, offering her to hit her. Sasha said the same thing mom said last night. Sasha left, and I turned around to come home, Deanna stopped me, asked me what she could do so I trusted her. I told her to put me in the armory, some of the guns aren't getting cleaned, she hesitated and I knew then she had no intention of doing it. I walked away, she tried to stop me again, and I told her was she going to give me the job in the armory, she said she couldn't, and I told her then I can't stay to talk," Summer explained.

"Carol's going to be pissed that another one of us aren't being perfect little Alexandrian's," Mitch pointed out.

"That's why you are going to school and pretend to be a perfect little Alexandrian," Summer told him.

"Not you too!" Mitch groaned.

"What did Hershel always say?" Summer asked.

"That we all have jobs to do," Mitch told her.

"Exactly, and this is your job," Mar pointed out.

"Two of the three Dixon women have spoke, go get ready, be back down in five minutes for your mama to walk you and Mika to school. No arguing," Daryl told him as he pointed up the stairs. "Make sure you help your momma with the babies while Mar is gone," he told Summer.

"I will," Summer told him.

"I have to go to some book club meeting with Carol today," Mar told them as they both looked at her. "Carol thinks I can be another calming person to show them we aren't that bad. I think she was trying to get Ronnie to come, since she is a Doctor, an important figure in the community. Ronnie told her she was a doctor not a actress. Seriously, neither one of you know a Star Trek reference?" she asked as she saw there looks.

"I've got to meet Rick, talk over some things," Daryl said as he gave Summer a glance. He kissed Mar. "Try not to kill anyone," he told her.

"Hey I'm the calm one," Mar said with a slight grin. "Be careful out there," she told him as she kissed him.

"Always am," Daryl responded as he kissed her again.

Jes, Rick, Daryl, and Carol's POV:

Jes walked up to the spot in the woods and bent down to the walker they had killed previously with a W on it's head. For a walker to be this close with a W on it, that means the Wolves were near and that means that Alexandria would be in trouble. Jes lifted her head as she heard footsteps and knew it was Rick without looking up. "Rick," she greeted.

"You alright with testing people today?" Rick asked, knowing well what the answer was.

"Yeah. It's our family in there, and threats are going to be coming, one way or another. You saw what they did at Shirewilt, they showed no mercy," Jes told him.

Rick bent down. "You're getting the feeling they are close?"

Jes gave a laugh. "Oh I know they are close. We've always found that Walkers' often stay close to home. He's from around here, which means so are they. Could be in any of the towns around here, they could have easily transported them from Washington too. I mean all those people who became a walker had to go somewhere. The fact that Alexandria is still standing, well, those walkers' have to have gone somewhere."

"But where is the question," Carol told them.

Jes stood up and nodded. "That's the question."

"But if we start going out on our own, they're going to be suspicious," Carol pointed out. "We've got to start playing it safe, some of us are causing a stir," she pointed out.

"You mean Jewel?" Daryl asked as he came up. "Well I guess this a bad time to point out Summer just had a stand off with Deanna."

Jes glanced at Carol. "Come on Carol, if we all started acting like little miss perfects, it would be unreasonable."

"Not all of us can be invisible," Rick told her. "Let's get this over with before they start getting suspicious."

Carol opened up the bag and pulled out guns. "Take your pick," she said as she pulled out guns.

Jes took one. "Think I could hide a rifle somewhere without them noticing?"

"I'd rather not risk it," Rick answered.

Daryl hesitated to take a gun. "Look, I've been thinking, ""Look, I've been thinking. Do we really need these? I mean, things go bad, yeah, sure. We do what we gotta do, but it's like you said. We don't need these for that," he told them.

"Right now we don't," Carol said.

"You wanted me to try, right? I'm good," he said to Carol.

Rick hesitated before he took the gun from Carol.

"You're taking one for Jewel?" Jes asked.

"She wanted to try it without guns," Rick responded as they started to walk back.

"I'm going to go check the two of the Alexandrians' out," Jes said as she separated from the group.

Rick and David's POV:

Rick walked into the gate, the others' separating from him. He passed Jessie and Pete who were out for a walk.

"Rick," Jessie greeted as she held up her hand with the A on it.

Rick gave a small smile and did the same. He sighed as they passed him and he went over to the wall and put his hand on the gate.

David watched him for a minute and walked over. "You know I had flashbacks to the bombings in Atlanta for a good year after it happened. Like I was still there, like I was still holding my wife, saw her as I walked, saw her holding our baby. I almost got myself killed a couple times, thinking she was real, thinking that I could reach out and touch her."

Rick turned and looked at him. "Well, I think that's the most I've heard you say since you joined us."

"Yeah, I figured that why should I really go out and get to know you all, we'd all die sooner or later. And I sure as hell thought that Jewel would be the first to go, having a baby and all. Figured someone would push her, just so they could live. I've seen people do that, push the weakest out, even there own kids," David told him.

"Were you tempted? To push my wife? To push my children?" Rick asked as he looked at him.

David laughed. "I'm not that stupid Rick," he told him. "Joey told me the deal, and I saw how he changed. Figured if he cared enough about all of you, considered you family, then maybe I should give you a try too."

Rick nodded. "Good idea."

"I kind of like being alive, you know? And, pissing you off is a sure fire way of winding up dead," David told him. "You were back in Terminus, before I showed up? Abe told me about the train car, about being trapped. It was train car A wasn't it?"

Rick looked at him. "Yeah, it was A," he answered.

"And there's an A on your hand, and your behind walls. It's easy for you, for any of us, to get flashbacks, even if we weren't at Terminus. We've all been through things that unite us," David said.

"Yeah, I guess so," Rick answered.

"So what's the story with Jessie?" David asked.

"Story? What story? She's married to Pete," Rick stated.

"An abuser," David told him. "She's just looking for someone, anyone to help her. By the looks she was giving you last night, she's got her eyes set on you. Hell, a lot of the women here think now that you're here, you'll get tired of Jewel because she isn't some little miss. Homemaker type."

Rick laughed. "I was married to a little Miss. Homemaker type, it was going well until her and my best friend, my partner, decided to start having an affair. I'd take Jewel over ten thousand homemakers' type."

"Plus Jewel would kill you and Daryl would hide the body," David pointed out. "I know you'd never leave Jewel for these types, but you better make sure they know that. And with that note of sage advice, I'm going to get to work. Talk to you later, Rick."

"David, thanks," Rick told him.

"Anytime. That's what families do right?" David asked as he walked off.