Better Days

Chapter 339

Author's Note: A lot of emotions going through Alexandria right now. I hated how they just skipped over it. Good thing that I'm here to fix that, isn't it? Let's see how everyone is doing. Review please

Beth's POV:

Beth walked up to the door of the house that was converted into apartments and pounded on the door and waited.

The door opened to reveal a little heavier blond. "What is it? It's late."

"You're Denise right? You're the psychiatrist right? Ronnie told me about you, that she gave you a choice to try and do the right thing and come help and work for her, to stand against Pete. But you didn't do it, you stayed here, and you hid. Now we need you," Beth told her.

Denise looked at her. "Do I know you?" she asked, sleepily.

Beth sighed in frustration. "I'm Beth, I'm part of Rick's group. While you've been hiding in here, things have happened. Pete killed Reg, he died in Deanna's arms. In less than forty eight hours, she's lost a husband and a son. So if there is a perfect time for you to do something useful and use your skills as a psychiatrist, now is it."

Denise blinked. "Pete's an ass, but killing Reg? I don't believe he is capable of something like that."

"Well he was. He took Michonne's Katina off our wall, at our house, and he slit Reg's throat. Reg took his last breath in Deanna and Quinn's arms. You may want to hide in there where it's safe and not face up to the fact that the world is like this now, but you can't, not anymore. You need to grab whatever you need and come with me right now," Beth told her.

"I'm sure Deanna and Quinn want to be left alone, and it can wait until the morning. They'll still be mourning in the light of the day," Denise told her as she started closing the door.

Beth put her foot in the door and swung it opened and stepped inside. "I don't think you understand what I'm telling you. You are not going to hide in here and wait until the morning, so you don't have to go out in the dark. Monsters hide just as well in the day as they do at night. You have a job to do, and I'm not leaving here without you. If I have to punch you and drag you out by the hair to Deanna's house, I will. If that's what it takes to get you to do what you're trained to do, then be it."

"You don't know anything about me, Beth. It's easier being in here then out there, even without the dead. I've always been better on my own, being by myself," Denise told her.

Beth pushed up her sleeves to reveal her scars. "You picked the wrong profession. You trained to help people," she told her. "I used to be scared, I used to want to hide, didn't want to live. But, I'm stronger then I thought I was and I learned skills to help keep everyone alive. But you have training, and training that is needed right now, so go get dressed and let's get going to Deanna's house," she told the other woman as she crossed her arms.

Michonne and Jewel's POV:

Jewel picked up Judy after getting her dressed from there bath, and kissed her head before opening the door to take her to her room.

Michonne stood outside her room as Jewel came out with Judith. "She fell asleep in the bath?" she asked.

"Out like a light, I wish I was," Jewel told her as she went to put Judith down in the play pen they used as a crib.

"Come on," Michonne said as she nodded toward her room.

Jewel sighed. "Michonne, if you want to talk about what we did, about not bringing you into it, I can't do it right now. I don't have the energy," she told her.

"No, Jewel, that's not what I want to do. You look like you need a friend. We're still friends, aren't we? Even if we didn't agree, we're still friends," Michonne asked.

Jewel gave a small tired smile. "I think we're beyond the whole friends thing, aren't we Michonne? Our blood's been mixed enough that I'm pretty sure we're related in some odd way," she teased as she walked into the other woman's room.

"I just checked on Hope, Carol's got her, giving her a bottle," Michonne told her friend.

Jewel looked at her as she sat down. "You heard me talking with Noel before I came inside the house didn't you?"

Michonne nodded. "I was making a couple extra rounds," she admitted.

"You think I was lying to him about not being tempted?" Jewel questioned her friend.

Michonne shook her head. "I absolutely believe you believe what you said to him," she told her friend.

"Michonne, we've been through to much to bullshit each other. Come out and say what you want to say," Jewel told her.

"You and Rick, you take all the problems in the world onto your shoulders, always handling problems so we don't have too," Michonne told her. "You were the first person to run to Reg, to try to do something even though it was fruitless. I'm surprised you and Rick haven't crashed under the pressure already from being strong."

"That's why we have each other, we don't let things get that bad," Jewel reminded her.

"You also have all of us," Michonne reminded her. "I'm not even going to pretend to know what demons you fight by being an alcoholic, but I know even the strongest person is tempted at some point."

Jewel gave her a small smile. "Every single day, Michonne, we face people who want us dead, who will kill us just because we're alive. We're afraid to be happy in this place because we know that the bad is right around the corner. We can't just take a stroll down the road, we have to strap like we're facing Armageddon, which we are in the form of walkers'. Every one of us needs to always be on our toes, and I know trying to keep Abraham from drinking is like asking a walker to dance, impossible. It's easier then you think, because like I told Noel, temptation comes, and I have a list of the people who are depending on me."

"That list just got bigger," Michonne pointed out.

"Do you think it'll ever stop being us and them and be an all of us?" Jewel asked.

"It started tonight. Quinn was standing with us, standing up for us. She convinced others to be with her, to show her mother things need to change," Michonne told her. "That's a start."

"Did you see the faces of the step ford wives when Rick dropped that walker in front of them?" Jewel asked.

Michonne gave a snort. "Not exactly what they were expecting."

"They aren't ready," Jewel told her.

"So we make them ready," Michonne responded.

"What if we can't? What if some of them just aren't cut out for this world Michonne? You know as well as I do, some of them aren't going to make it. Some of them wouldn't even be alive right now if those gates didn't protect them. I'm willing to help as much as I am able too, but there's only so much I, we, can do without them pulling there weight," Jewel told her.

"When you found Axel at the prison, did you think he'd make it as far as he has? Or Mika? Did you think that she would ever be able to do what she's done while keeping a smile on her face?" Michonne questioned her.

Jewel sighed. "There's a difference, Michonne. Axel might have been afraid of his shadow, but he made us see he was different, and he proved himself. He didn't back down, he stepped up to every challenge he's ever been given. Mika, she has surprised me, but she hasn't had to kill a human yet. Do I think she can? To protect Hope? To protect any of us? Yes, I do. I also know she'd have trouble accepting what she did, but she'd do it without hesitation. I don't know if there's many here that has what it takes to survive out there," she told her. "I mean look at Eugene and Gabriel, they both should be dead by now."

"But they aren't," Michonne pointed out.

"Eugene lied, he lied his way from Texas to Georgia about a cure in Washington. I do have to admit that he stepped up, got them back, proved he has what it takes to be part of this family. But Gabriel, that man needs to be fed to a walker. He can't even hide behind his collar anymore, he burnt it. How hard is it to make sure a gate is closed and locked? That isn't the first time he put this group in danger, remember the church?" Jewel questioned, obviously ticked.

"I remember the church," Michonne answered as she squeezed her friends shoulder.

"I think I need to go have a talk with him," Jewel told her as she started to stand up.

Michonne pulled her back down beside her. "You sent Jes. You can't do everything all the time. You trust us right?"

"Of course, Michonne. I've trusted you with my life, the lives of my children. What kind of question is that?" Jewel asked.

Michonne gave a small smile. "Then let Jes do the job you gave her. You and Rick will talk with her in the morning and get the details of how it went. Do you agree with Rick locking Morgan and the little girl up?"

Jewel sighed. "I'm not sure what the right answer to that question is Mich, I really don't. He's definitely changed since we saw him in Kings County. You thought he was dangerous because of the weapons he had collected. Now, he's not even carrying a weapon, and he left dangerous men alive. Men that killed a friend of his, the brother of a little girl he is now responsible for."

"We aren't the same either. He walked into seeing Rick killing a man," Michonne answered. "He doesn't know what happened to us any more then we know what happened to him. Rick and him will have to get to know each other again," she told her friend.

"Like we did with Andrea," Jewel told her as she looked at the other woman. "I know you miss her, so do I. There's a lot of people that I miss and we just don't get the time to grieve, time to think about them, let alone talk about them like we should."

"But we remember everyone of them," Michonne responded. "Everyone that we've met, good and bad has left an impression on us."

"Deanna's going to need help. She's not only grieving a husband but a son," Jewel told the other woman.

"Maggie will be watching her, helping her. Ronnie is going to keep an eye on her, we all are. She isn't alone, and we're going to make sure she knows that," Michonne told her.

"This is Jenny's first night without her brother. I'd feel better if Rick and Morgan would have let Jenny stay here," Jewel told her. "But Jenny doesn't know us, she knows Morgan."

"You know Mika, Mitch and Lexi will make sure she has everything she needs, and Summer will be checking up on her. You better go get some sleep momma bear before one of the cubs wakes up," Michonne told her with a small smile.