Better Days
Chapter 330
Author's Note: I have my admission date to the hospital, it's October 6th. I'm hoping to get weekends off and not the total 90 days in. I will be buying the season from Amazon and watching it the next day. I will be taking a notebook and writing so I can type when I get home and on the weekends if I have time. Things are being shook up in Alexandria. Anyway, please review.
Quinn's POV:
Quinn looked at the group of Alexandrian's in her house. She had invited more then she thought would support her, but she also knew that it would get back to her mother this way. She wanted to make sure her mother knew that she was serious about what she said.
"Why are we here, Quinn? The meetings' tonight," Carter told her.
"Let her talk, Carter," Gus told the other man.
"I'm just saying what everyone is thinking. The meeting's tonight, but Quinn asked us here, and not all of us," Carter told him.
"This meeting is to discuss something else, and not Rick. I saw my brother die two days ago, I saw Noah get eaten by those things, and Tara is injured. Those deaths and injuries could have been prevented if mom had listened to me, if she had taken Aiden and Nicholas off supply runs. I said it before Rick's group got here, that they were responsible. And, Aiden admitted it to me. Noah would still be alive if Nicholas wasn't such a coward," Quinn explained.
"What does this have to do with what Rick did?" Bruce asked.
"Rick did what we all should have done ages ago. Can you all tell me that you could look Jessie in the eyes and be OK with what was happening? I couldn't," Quinn informed them.
"We did what we had to do, he is the only doctor," Mrs. Neudermeyer reminded her.
"He was the only doctor," Phoebe corrected her. "Ronnie's here now," she reminded them.
"It still wasn't right, us not looking out for Jessie and those boys," Noreen told them.
"I wanted to say something, do something. I knew how it was being in Jessie's position. We let her and those boys get hurt," Geraldine told her.
"But that doesn't excuse Rick from having a gun and brandishing it around. It doesn't excuse Jewel for getting angry at us when she overheard us talking," Stacey told them.
"She got mad at you, Stacey. She didn't hurt anyone but herself, and you were threatening to take her children away," Quinn reminded her. "Eric, Phoebe why did you bring Rick and his group in here?"
Phoebe and Eric looked at each other. "They had a baby, a newborn, and other children. They could have turned on each other, they could have sacrificed the children to save themselves, but it wasn't like that. They always put the children center of them. Carl, Lexi Beth and Summer always took front and back of them. No one ever told them what to do, they knew it. Jewel would always give Hope to Mika or Mitch, she'd take Judy, but she was always armed. Daryl and Jes would always be on the side of her. They all could speak volumes without saying a word. I never saw anything like that. I wish Liam and I had that while we were out there."
Eric nodded. "They worked as a team, a well oiled machine. We needed them here. The fact that they all were so close, even going through hell and back, that sold me."
"I saw the same with Glenn, he didn't panic. He knew how to get us out alive," Quinn told them. "Mom had doubts about putting Abraham in charge of the construction crew, didn't she Tobin?"
"She did, but I convinced her that he was a better choice then I was. Him and David didn't panic," he said.
"They saved my life," Francine added.
"Quinn what are you getting at? You're sounding like you're planning a coup to take over Alexandria," Carter told her.
"Not a coup, but I do think she's not the leader Alexandria needs right now. I know all of you are loyal to my mother, and I know some of you won't agree with me, but either mom needs to listen to Rick and his group, or she needs to step down," Quinn stated.
"Are you going to point a gun at your own mother?" Mrs. Neudermeyer questioned.
"She's not talking about using guns. She's talking about supporting Rick and his group," Gus interrupted.
"You're mother has done good things for this community, she's kept us safe. Banning Rick from Alexandria, that's the best thing to do," Betsy told them.
"My mother has been a good leader, but she doesn't listen to sound advice. She sees it her way, and she doesn't want to admit when she's wrong," Quinn told them. "She needs to be held accountable, she needs to see that we need Rick and his group."
"I'm not going to say to keep Rick here," Tobin told her. "I want to keep my family safe, and Rick brandishing a gun isn't making me feel safe."
"But living with Pete does?" Emily asked. "Quinn's right we turned our back on Jessie and the boys. We were blind to what we wanted to see."
"It wasn't any of our business," Barbara told them.
"If Jessie wound up dead, would it have been? If Ron or Sam were killed, would it have been?" Noel questioned. "It would have been. Denise was a doctor, Gus had medical training, Jill was a medic, we had choices. We could have insisted Deanna to do something, but we were the ones who allowed the abuse to happen because we didn't stand up to Pete. He could have grabbed Emily or Phoebe at anytime, just like he did with Summer," Noel informed them.
"Mom asked Summer if one of her group did it," Quinn told them. "She didn't want to believe that Pete did that. But instead, she would have been happy to allow one of Rick's group take the blame," she told them. "That's not right and I can't just turn my back and look the other way anymore. I know all of you won't agree to stand behind me, and I know some of you will go to mom, and that's fine, that's what I want. I don't want your answer right now, but tonight at six o clock, we'll meet here, if you feel like I've made some good points," Quinn told them.
Morgan's POV:
Morgan sat on a log, looking behind him. "Jenny, you know not to wonder to far from your brother and me," he told her.
"Where is Chris?" Jenny asked.
"He's getting more wood. Come sit down and eat," Morgan instructed.
Jenny turned around, her eyes getting big as she saw the man with the gun. "Morgan," she whispered.
"It's alright, come sit by me," Morgan told her not acknowledging the man.
Jenny ran to Morgan and clung to his side.
"Hi," the man greeted.
"Hello," Morgan told him, as he lowered the plate, rubbing Jenny's back. "You can lower that, you're scaring the child," he told him. "What's the W for?"
"You know, the first settlers here, they put bounties on wolves' heads. Brought the natives into it. Made them hunt them. Didn't take them too long to kill them all. They're back now. Thoughts?" the man asked.
"Everything gets a return," Morgan said as he placed a plate in front of Jenny. "You eat, it'll be alright."
"Are you shitting me?" the man asked.
"Language," Jenny told him.
The man looked at the child. "Haven't seen to many kids now a days," he said
"Jenny, go ahead and eat," Morgan told her trying to get the attention off her. "I'm not shitting you. And I know, Jenny, language."
Both men started laughing. "I missed this. I don't get to meet new people very often. Maybe once every two weeks," he told Morgan.
"That's a lot," Morgan said as he rubbed Jenny's back.
"Oh, I work at it. We do. Sometimes we find camps. We run through them. But we have traps, too. It's different. It's not like meeting like this. As equals. Little chats in front of a fire with a stranger. That's the closest thing to movies now. I miss the movies," the man said. "Put that down, the girl's plate too," he said nodding to Morgan's coffee club.
Jenny looked at Morgan with her big eyes. "Why?" Morgan asked.
"I want it," the man said simply. "I want everything you have, every last drop," he said as he looked at Jenny. "You had a third person with you right? A male, wearing a green army jacket?"
"Chris…where is he?" Jenny asked.
"He got caught in one of my traps, my partner killed him, waiting for him to turn into one of them, maybe I'll even let him bite you, getting turned by your own brother," the man said.
Jenny screamed and went behind Morgan. "You didn't have to tell her that, you didn't have to scare her. Look we just want to keep a couple things, just to make it for a few days. You're lying about Chris, aren't you?"
"No, I'm not lying. I'll keep you both alive so I can parade you in front of him and show you," the man said. "I'm taking you, too. And you're not exactly gonna be alive," the man said.
Morgan felt Jenny shaking from fright behind him. "You don't have to do this."
"Some of the tribes around here, they thought that the first people were wolves transformed into men. And now, well, you know. Everything gets a return, right?" the man asked.
"You can have my supplies, you can have everything. Doesn't need to be any ugliness. But I can't allow you to take us away. I will not allow you to put one hand on this child's head. I will not allow that," Morgan responded as he bent down to get his staff.
"Don't move," the man said as he held up his gun. "You're scaring the girl, more then needs to be. Just be still, just be still."
Jenny screams as she hears something from the bushes, as Morgan quickly grabs her and the staff as the second man tries to get to Jenny. "Jenny climb that tree, now," he told her as he knocked both men down. He placed himself between Jenny and the two men. He looked at them. "You should both go now," he told them.
"No," the second man said as he ran for him again.
Morgan fought them both off and they went down again. "Leave," he told them again.
"Now!" the first man yelled as both of them came toward Morgan again taking them both down.
Morgan heard the walkers' and used his staff after finding out the gun wasn't working. "Come on down baby girl," he told her ready to catch her.
"We have to find Peanut Butter…we can't let him turn into one of those things. He could still be alive, right?" Jenny asked hopefully.
Morgan touched the side of her face. "I don't think so sweet heart, but we'll check. We're going to put them in the car and we know where Chris would have been," he assured her. He pulled Jenny into his coat as she started crying. "Listen to me, sweet heart, I'm not going to let anything happen to you, ever," he told her as he picked the men up and moved them to the backseat of the car, one at a time. He beeped the horn and took the rabbits foot off the mirror. "Let's go," he said as he held her hand.
"Why did you leave them alive, Morgan? They are bad men, they said they killed Chris. They'll come back for us," Jenny told him in between tears.
"I left them alive because two wrongs don't make a right, Jenny," Morgan told her. "I know it's hard to understand, but one day you'll understand we don't have to kill."
"They killed people, they were going to kill us, and they killed Chris, they deserve to die. I'm not talking anymore right now," Jenny said as she crossed her arms and walked with him.
Morgan sighed as he saw the green army jacket. "Jenny stay here," he ordered.
Jenny looked at him before she nodded.
Morgan cautiously approached the man who was laying on the ground. He took a breath as he bent down and felt for his pulse. He lowered his head and took a breath. "Jenny, I want you to stay right there."
"Is he…." Jenny started to ask.
"Yes sweet heart, he's dead," Morgan told her.
"Is he a monster?" Jenny asked.
"No, and he's not going to be," Morgan assured her as he took his knife and put it behind Chris' ear. "I'll take care of her. You have my word."