Better Days
Chapter 312
Author's Note: Things are really heating up in Alexandria, aren't they? Zephod: Rick is still going to be the one that beats Pete's behind, because it has to be that way for the story to proceed. But he isn't protecting Jessie. Please review.
Quinn's POV:
Quinn leaned on the sink in the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She could still feel Aiden's blood on her skin, even though she had spent over an hour in the shower. She could still hear both Aiden and Noah's screams in her mind. She stood like that for a good while before she saw Gus standing behind her. She turned and looked at him. "Hi…" she greeted as he pulled her into a hug.
"The girls and I were worried. You've been up here for a good two hours. We wanted to give you space, but your dad came over asking for us to come over," Gus explained as he sat her down on the bed and sat with her.
"Nicholas probably already went and told his side of the story, his lies," Quinn said as she laid her head on Gus's shoulder. "I can't let him get away with this, I can't let him blame Glenn. He did everything right. I have to make mom see that, see that this could have been prevented if she had listened."
"She knew that she needed Rick and his group, that's why she brought them in," Gus assured her as he rubbed her shoulders.
"But she's not listening, she's afraid to make changes, put more of Rick's group in charge. She's endangering everyone here by not listening. Rick's right, it's only a matter of time that what's out there comes and finds us. We've been lucky, seriously lucky," Quinn answered. "I know Rick and Jewel aren't sitting around twiddling there thumbs, waiting for something to happen, something to hurt there family, they'd be stupid not too."
Gus looked at her. "What if they are? What do you plan to do to stop them?" he asked.
Quinn looked at him. "I'm not," she told him. "I'm with them, even if it means going against my mother. She can't keep us safe, she proved it by not taking Aiden and Spencer off the supply team, or at least put Glenn in charge. She proved it before by not doing something about Pete. She was a good leader, before, and she has tried now, but in this world, you have to be better then good. You have to make the hard choices, no hesitation. I saw that today with Glenn and I knew, I knew that mom can't do this, not alone. This place needs someone who can make the real hard decisions. Someone who knows what the real world is like right now. And, that's Rick and his group."
"Are you actually going to be able to stand against your mother if the time comes?" Gus asked.
"You don't agree with me?" Quinn asked.
"I agree with you wholeheartedly. Quinn showed me a biter with a W carved in it's head, said they had saw things like that before, and with warnings the Wolves are near. And, us not carrying guns, well it makes no sense, not now," Gus told her. "But she's not my mother."
"She once told me that the signs of a good leader is to know when they need to let someone else help them. I'm going to remind her of that," Quinn responded.
"We should get going to your parents', you still need to talk to your mother," Gus told her as he kissed her.
"I want to stop by the infirmary, see how Tara is doing," Quinn said as they stood up.
Gus nodded. "Of course," he answered.
Family POV:
Jes walked up to the group who was sitting on the porch and steps, some were leaning against the wall. "How is she?"
"Last time Rosita came out she was getting a little bit more stable," Beth answered.
"Whose on watch?" Axel questioned her.
"Sasha," Jes responded.
"Um, Jes you do realize you still have your rifle right?" David questioned.
"Well, that happens when you only have one person guarding the weapons, and that said person go homes at six o'clock at night," Jes responded.
"It'll make things bad if you're caught with it," Maggie told her.
Jes shrugged. "I took the bullets out. We lost someone in our family because of they're ineptness, so let Deanna try to get mad at me."
"She lost her son," Beth answered.
"Because she didn't listen," Jes responded.
"Give me the bullets, at least we can say that the bullets and weapon were separated," Carol told her as she outstretched her hand.
Jes looked at Rick who nodded at her. "She's right. Let's not give them anymore reason to find fault with us right now," Rick told her.
"Like they need any reason to. We were never going to be accepted here, we're outsiders. We've been out there to long to not see the bad in everything," Summer told him.
"Are we going to have to leave?" Mika asked as she fed Hope a bottle.
Jewel kissed the top of her head. "We're going to do everything in our power not to let that happen," she assured her. "Right now we should decide whose going to keep vigil tonight, that way some of us can take over tomorrow."
"I don't think any of us want to leave," Axel told her. "It wouldn't feel right, not being here if something happens."
"Sasha didn't want to come back in after she heard?" Lexi asked Jes.
"I tried to get her to come back, to leave the tower in the hands of one of the Alexandrians, but she refused to even hear of it," Jes told her.
"So, we're all staying here for the night right mom?" Carl questioned.
Jewel looked at Rick. "I'll let you, Mika, Lexi and Mitch stay until midnight. Then I'll go back to the houses with you and get the babies settled. Everyone else can stay. You all can come back in the morning," Jewel told them.
"I'll go with you, I've got patrol in the morning. And I can get Judith down while you handle Hope," Michonne told her.
"I'll get with Rosita, we'll split up shifts to watch her," Mar answered.
"You don't think I'm going to set this one out do you?" Jewel asked. "Put me on rotation, even if it's just a couple hours a day, preferably not with Pete."
"I can help too," Summer told them.
"Me too," Beth added.
Mar nodded. "I'm hoping she won't need us that long, that she'll wake up sooner then later," she said.
Quinn walked up with Gus and the girls. "I don't mean to intrude…I just wanted to see how Tara was."
Glenn looked up. "She's stable, but not out of danger yet," he told her.
Rick looked at her. "Glenn told us what you did out there, thank you," he sincerely.
"I wish I could have done more. Have you talked to my mother yet, Glenn? About what happened?" Quinn questioned.
"No, I haven't wanted to leave here, none of us do actually," Glenn answered.
Quinn nodded as she looked at everyone. "We're heading over there now," she told him. "I wish I had been able to get over there before Nicholas did. He asked me to lie for him, cover for him."
Jes stood straighter. "Are you?" she questioned.
"Quinn isn't like that," Gus told her.
"Take the girls over, I'll be over in a minute," Quinn said as she kissed him. She waited until they were out of earshot. "I'm going to tell you what I told Nicholas. He is a coward, and he ran off three times. If he had just listened to Glenn, Noah would still be alive. But he let his cowardice get the best of him. And, now Noah's dead, Tara's lucky if she makes it, and he was ready to leave me and Glenn. I've never been shy about telling my mother she's wrong, and I'm not going to do that now. If one of us Alexandrian's not everyone would be standing guard like this, we aren't like that. But we need to be, we should be. All of us should be able to carry weapons, and all of us should be able to shoot. I know we aren't prepared, that if something or someone comes in through those gates, we aren't going to survive. We need you, all of you, here. I'm surprised we've survived this long, but it's not going to last, I know it. This place needs a leader who will make the hard decisions, and not blink. My mom isn't that leader…not by herself," she told them as she looked Rick right in the eyes. "I better get over to my parents' house," she told them. "Please let me know what Gus and I can do," she said as she looked at Rick and Jewel again. "Anything, anything at all," she said as she started to turn around.
Carol came up with the casserole. "I made this for your family, to express how sorry we all are for your loss," she said as she handed it to her.
"Thank you, and I'm sorry for your loss," Quinn answered as she walked toward her parents' house.
"I'm going to go check on Tara," Jewel informed the group.
Jewel, Ronnie, Eugene and Rosita's POV:
Jewel walked in to the infirmary. "How is she?" she asked.
"She's hanging in there," Ronnie said.
"All we have to do is wait for her to wake up," Rosita answered.
"If she wakes up," Eugene answered.
Jewel walked over to Tara's bedside and squeezed her hand. "You're going to wake up, aren't you Tara? You are to much of a fighter aren't you? You know how important you are to us, and that's why you're going to wake up for us," she said as she bent down and kissed the top of her head.
"Do you think she can really hear you?" Eugene asked.
Jewel looked at Ronnie and Rosita then back at Eugene. "I do. I've seen it work before. So they'll be no more talking negative about her not waking up," she told him. "I heard what you did back there, getting her out, leading the walkers' away, standing up to Nicholas. Thank you," she told him.
"I was still scared senseless. I'm still a coward," Eugene answered.
"Eugene, shut up and take a compliment, will you?" Rosita questioned.
Jewel gave a small laugh. "Alright let me try this another way. I'm sorry for all the grief I gave you since Washington fell through," she told him.
"You had every right to say everything you did, I deserved it. You were worried about your children, and I totally respect that. What I did today, was nothing that anyone else in our group would have done, and in good conscious I could not abandon them to the walkers', or in this case Nicholas," Eugene answered.
"Eugene?" Rosita asked.
"Yes?" Eugene responded.
"Say thank you for the apology!" Rosita ordered him.
Ronnie had to cover her mouth from bursting out laughing.
Jewel extended her hand. "You're one of us, even if you still are a self exclaimed coward."
Eugene looked at her hand then stood up and went over and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you," he simply said.
Jewel looked at Rosita and Ronnie who were barley controlling there laughter as she patted Eugene's back. "You're welcome, Eugene," she said as she pulled back. "You save your next hug for when Tara wakes up. There's a lot of people that can sit beside her, don't forget to get some rest," she told him as she squeezed his shoulder before she went out.