Better Days
Chapter 352
Author's Note: I'm preparing myself for a couple of my OC's deaths. I'm still debating Ronnie's death, but the other one has to happen to advance a story line. I hate killing my babies! Ronnie may or may not survive, depending if I want to change Denise's story line and not have her as the doctor. She probably will survive, for now. Anyway, I can't leave you all on a cliffhanger. Please review.
Alexandria POV:
Rick nodded. "Daryl will lead them away, on his motorcycle," he said.
"Me, too. I'll take a car, ride next to him. Can't just be him. I'll keep 'em coming, Daryl keeps 'em from getting sloppy," Sasha says.
"I'll go with her. It's a long way to white-knuckle it solo," Abraham responded.
"We'll need a car off the highway, in case there's stragglers, get the rear of the line. Direct any of the guests back into line," Jes said. "I'll do it," she said.
"No, we need at least one of you with sniper skills to stay behind," Axel said. "I'll do it."
"I'll ride with you," David answered.
"I thought Rick had a plan, sounds like you're all changing it," Carter said.
Jewel squeezed Rick's hand as she adjusted Hope. "We're adding to it. That's what we do, because we want everyone to come back alive," Jewel said
"We'll have three teams, one on each side of the forest helping manage this thing, and one out by the impasse to take out the ones that the noise is going to draw and any stragglers.. Summer, since you can throw and I want the group up there to have flash grenades, you'll be in charge of that. You're arm up for it?"
Summer nodded. "Yeah, not a problem," she told him.
"You're not doing it alone, I'll go too," Joey said.
"You can't hit a side of the barn if your life depended on it," Summer told him.
"I can," a young woman about nineteen said. "I was the only girl with five older brothers, I learned how to play baseball at an early age," she said.
"Nikki, right?" Mar asked.
"Yeah," she answered.
"Summer and Nikki will throw the grenades, Joey will take out any stragglers, with one other person," Rick responded. "We're gonna have a few people on watch from now on. Rosita, Spencer, Jes, Jill, Gus and Holly. So they're out, so who's in?"
"Your wife is going to be the first to volunteer right?" Carter asked.
"Carter," Quinn hissed in warning.
"It's alright, Quinn, I can handle this one. Well, I already have a set of balls bigger then you, so if you can grow a pair of breasts to nurse a newborn, then I'd be the first one to volunteer. I'd feel a whole lot better with me out there watching there back then you, but I have my job. My job, with Beth and Rosita is to make sure some of you actually know how to use a weapon if need be. I really don't understand why you are being so damn hard headed about this, Carter. There's a danger, and we're trying to help you survive. Are you so hard headed that you can't get that through you're little brain of yours?" Jewel asked as she rubbed Hope's back to burp her. "Yes, that's it, sweetpea. Now, Rick asked whose in?"
"I'm in," Michonne said.
"Me too," Mar answered.
Glenn nodded after he spoke to Maggie. "I'm in," he said.
"I'd like to help too," Gabriel told Rick.
"No," both Jewel and Rick answered.
"Who else? We need more," Rick added as he watched everyone.
Jes hit her hand against the table. "You got to be kidding me right? It's only our people who give a damn about surviving? This is unbelievable, you people are unbelievable," she hissed.
"We want to survive, but you have to admit that this plan is risky," Bruce told her.
"What's also risky is just sitting by and not doing anything," Mar informed them.
"There's got to be another play, we can't just control that many," Carter told them.
"Can I punch him?" Joey whispered in Summer's ear as she laughed.
"We can't just control that many. I said it before, walkers herd up. They'll follow a path if something's drawing them and that's how we can get 'em all at once," Rick told him.
"It's a good plan, and we certainly don't have anything better," Quinn answered. "I'm in," she said as she nodded to Rick.
"So, what? We're supposed to just take your word for it? We're all supposed to just fall in line behind you after…," Carter asked.
"After what?" Rick questioned.
"We really don't need to do this now, Carter," Gus warned him.
"When are we going to do it Gus? He's asking us to put our lives on the line for a plan that he doesn't know if it's going to work," Carter told him.
"So I ask you again, Carter, after what?" Rick questioned him.
"After you wave a gun around screaming, pointing it at people. After you shoot a man in the face. After you-," Carter said.
"Enough!" both Deanna and Jewel said at the same time.
Jewel handed Hope to Rick and took a breath to calm herself down. "Most of you have looked at us like we're something to be scraped off your boot since we've got here. You've judged us for arming our children, you've mentioned that we should be exiled while you took our children. You'd rather turn your back on a problem then face it, just like you did with Pete. Well, let me let you in on a little secret, as much as you think we're animals, I think most of you are cowardly pieces of dog shit that are only alive because of those gates," she told them.
"Jewel that's enough," Deanna told her.
"No, let her finish," Jes told Deanna. "You all pissed off momma bear and it's time you hear the truth."
"We come and tell you that there's a whole pit of walkers' just ready to break free, and only three of you volunteer? You think that I'm going to let my family do something dangerous to save your sorry behinds and not have you help?" Jewel questioned.
"You have to, otherwise you'll all die too," Stacey told her.
Jewel and Jes both laughed. "Yeah keep thinking that," Jes told her.
"No, see my family will go find somewhere to hold up for a week or two, let the walkers' come in here and destroy every single one of you, with a few exceptions. We'll even take your kids Stacey, because I don't blame there parents' stupidity on them and they shouldn't have to die because of it. In a couple weeks after all of you are nothing but walkers' yourselves, we'll come back in and clear out Alexandria, and burn you all. We didn't have to come back here and tell you what was happening, we could have packed up our stuff and left and waited. Rick didn't have to start planning on saving this place from the time he saw those walkers' but he did. Now, I'm going to ask this once again, and if you all don't give a damn about living, well then I don't care about saving you. You all know who I think would survive. So, are there any one else who wants to fight to survive or do I take my family and pack up and wait for this town to be overtook by the walkers'?" she asked, deadly serious.
"I'll do it," Heath told them.
"Me too," Francine added.
"Count me in," Brad told them.
"I'm in, I'll go with Summer, Nikki and Joey," Emily told them.
"Whatever you need I'm in," Tobin told Rick.
"Now who else?" Deanna asked.
Nicholas looked like he was going to say something as Glenn and Summer both looked at him and shook there heads. "I'll go. We have to do this, I need to help," Nicholas said as both Glenn and Summer glared at him.
Rick and Jewel both looked at Glenn then Nicholas. "You sure you can handle it?" Rick questioned.
"You need people," Nicholas told him.
"That didn't answer the question," Joey said as he shook his head.
"I want everyone to pack up emergency supplies, a bag for each member of there families and put it in the church, Jessie's or here. Those are the three center points of the town," Jewel told them. "It's also important for you to sign in and out on the check in sheet."
"Why?" Barbara asks.
"I thought you trusted Rick's plan?" Carter asked.
"We do," Carol answered. "Jewel has always had us have to go bags ready, and knowing where we all were. It's kept us alive and together this long," she said.
"Even good plans need backup plans," Gus told them.
"We'll make this work. We'll keep this place safe, keep our families safe, we will," Rick assured them.
"This plan, go through it again," Carter demanded.
"Seriously? Are you deaf?" David asked.
"Man he just said it," Daryl added.
"Every part again, the exact plan," Carter demanded.
"Let's do it on the map," Jes said as she jumped up from the table. "Since he obviously has trouble comprehending by listening, let's go through it with the map. Since he's the only one having issues with it, no one else needs to be around unless they want to. Anyone got anything else? This is the time to put all those ideas and worries out," she said.
"The armory," Summer stated. "Half the guns will misfire if they're shot, or not fire enough. All the ones we came in with, they are clean. The ones from the supply team, they are clean, Tobin's, Phoebe's, a couple others. But the ones that anyone take out, they need cleaning."
"How do you know they need cleaning?" Carter asked.
"You know, you're really beginning to piss me off," Joey told him.
"Beginning too? You have more patience then I do," David told him. "She's been cleaning weapons since she was walking."
Deanna nodded. "Summer, take a team, clean them. Olivia, Jessie, I want you two on that team, watch and learn."
"I'll help," Phoebe answered.
"So, the plan?" Carter asked.
"Let's go outside," Rick said as he handed Hope to Jewel as he kissed her. "Thank you."
"Always," Jewel told him.