Better Days

Chapter 354

Authors Note: Updates may be further apart as I will be heading to the hospital and now that I'm using the Kindle, I write it out on paper first. Review please.

Summer's Pov:

Summer walked over to where Nicholas was working and bent down next to him under the pretense of helping him. "You shouldn't be going outside the gates," she told him.

"It's not your call," Nicholas told her.

"Every time you go out there someone winds up dead. You shot Glenn because you couldn't admit that he knew what he was doing. You let your pride get the best of you and you got jealous. You basically tried to take out what you see as the competition," Summer told him.

Nicholas looked at her. "I'm not jealous," he told her.

"Oh? So you just shot Glenn because you're a dick? Don't get me wrong, I think you are a worthless piece of human being that shouldn't be alive right now. You are responsible for six people's deaths, and until we came here, you blamed four of those deaths on them," Summer told him.

"I don't need a play by play of my mistakes," Nicholas told her.

"Well to bad Nicholas because you are going to listen and you are going to understand that you have no reason to be outside those gates so you can endanger someone else's life with your cowardice," Summer told him.

"This is going to be different, I'm not going to be a coward again," Nicholas assured her.

Summer looked at him. "Did you meet a wizard on the yellow brick road who granted you some courage all of a sudden? Because that is the only way I'm going to believe that you suddenly can go out there and face more Walkers' then we've had to deal with before. This isn't a game Nicholas, it's life and death. You left your best friend to die less than seventy two hours ago and then you shot Glenn less than fourth eight hours ago. So do you see why I may have a problem with believing that you have the ability to do this? That when it gets a little bit scary, and it will, you won't turn and run? You won't leave Glenn and others to the same fate as your other team?" she asked.

"Summer your dad doesn't have a problem with it then you shouldn't either," Nicholas told her.

"Dad has a problem with it, Glenn has a problem with it but you're right when you say that we need people," she said. "I just don't think you're up to the task."

Nicholas looked at her. "Are you?"

"Excuse me?" Summer asked.

"You are injured and you are clumsy. Maybe the only reason that you were asked was because Rick is your father," Nicholas told her.

Summer arched an eyebrow as she picked up a water bottle. "Tara heads up," she said as she threw the water bottle to her.

"Thanks," Tara said as she caught it.

Summer nodded as she looked at Nicholas. "Dad chose me because he knew I could handle it. He knew that even if things gets hairy that I won't freak out. He knows that I won't let fear get the best of me and if something goes wrong, I can think on my feet. He knows that between Joey and I we can watch each other's backs and that of the people who is out there with us. That's why he picked me to do this," Summer told him. "This is bigger than anything we've ever dealt with before and I admit that I'm nervous. I can admit that. That's how we survive, we admit that we get scared. We also survive by knowing that we can trust the people who is out there with us. Glenn is going to be depending on you to have his back. I'm trusting you to have Glenn's back, but you don't have the best track record with that. You always seem not to come back with the same amount of people you go out with. That can't happen this time. You come back here without Glenn and I am going to make your son an orphan. You tell me that you can do this, you say you're not going to abandon the people you go out with, then I have to believe that. I have to believe that you want your son to survive and that you know how important this is to his survival. That is the only reason I have any faith that you are going to do your part in making sure this works," Summer told him. "This is your last chance to prove that you have any reason to be useful in this world," she said as she walked away.

Summer, Maggie and Tara's Pov:

tara watched as Summer walked away from Nicholas and toward her "What's up buttercup?" she asked.

" Just telling Nicholas how it is, how it has to be," Summer responded as Maggie joined them.

"He got Noah killed?" Tara asked.

:"He did,: Maggie answered.

Summer scoffed. "Tell her what else he did, she deserves the truth, Maggie," Summer told the other woman.

"He lured Glenn into the woods and tried to kill him," Maggie explained.

"What th hell?" Tara asked appalled at the thought.

'Glenn told me I could tell everyone if that's what I wanted to do, get Nicholas exiled. He'd die out there. Could have done that, Summer could have done that, you could do that now," Maggie told Tara.

"Why didn't you?" Tara asked the two women.

I wanted to, believe me, but Glenn wants to try it another way. I respect him enough to let him try. I don't have to like it," Summer answered.

"Glenn saves people, even people like that. I couldn't accept it either but then I thought about you,"Maggie told Tara. "How we were on different sides of that fence on the worst day of my life, and now you're one of the most important people in the world to me," Maggie said.

"I don't have any confidence that Nicholas can redeem himself but I owe it to Glenn to give it a chance," Summer told her.

"Things can get better, we can make it better. You tell us what you want to do," Maggie told her.

"You were out there, you could have died, so it's much more your decision then Maggie's and mine," Summer told her.

"I'm just going to follow your lead okay," Tara answered.

"Okay," Maggie said as she hugged Tara.

"You put the fear of Dixon in Nicholas right?" Tara asked Summer as she hugged her.

"What do you think I was doing over there?" Summer asked with a small smile as Glenn watched from afar with a grin of his own.

Morgan, Jes and Carol's POV:

Jes took the cup of water from Carol and nodded her thanks as Morgan took a cup ofrom her. "It's Carol right?" Morgan questioned.

"Yeah," Carol answered as she turned to walk away.

"You've been with Rick long?" Morgan asked.

"Since Atlanta," Carol answered sweetly.

"You a cop too?" Morgan asked.

Jes, who was standing near by, laughed causing Morgan and Carol to look at her. "Sorry it's just hard to believe that anyone could ever mistake our sweet Carol for a cop. She couldn't hurt a fly," She said as she took another glass of water.

"Carol looked at Jes than at Morgan. "It is a funny concept, the thought of me being a cop. What would give you that idea?"

"You're always watching, you always seem ready," Morgan told her.

Jes glanced at Carol waiting to see what her response would be.

"For what?" Carol asked.

" You know how to handle things," Morgan told her.

"Aren't you sweet?" Carol said as she walked away leaving Jes and Morgan alone.

"There's more to her then she's letting on," Morgan stated as he looked at Jes.

"If you only ken," Jes thought to herself. "She's our June Cleaver, taking care of everyone, before herself. A lot of us wouldn't be alive right now if it wasn't for Carol's loving helping hands," she told him honestly.

"How about you? How long have you been with Rick?" Morgan asked.

"About a year," Jes answered, not giving him anything more without him asking.

"How did you come into his group?" Morgan asked.

"You complying a book on us Morgan?" Jes challenged him

"I'm just trying to get to know the people Rick considers family," Morgan answered.

Jes nodded. "Can't disagee with you there. I saved Jewel's head from becoming an ornament in a psycho's fish tank collection," she answered. "It was a little before they came to Kings County for the weapons. We waged waar against the psycho, won that time. We should have cut his head off and displayed it on a stick. If we had, we would still be at the prison, a good man would still be alive, a lot of people would still be alive. Jewel would have given birth with her husband and her family around her, instead of being alone with just Mika and a bunch of cannibles," she told him.

"I'm sorry about the losses of your friends, but all life is precious, even a man like the one you described," Morgan told her.

Jes laughed. "Not this man, Morgan. He was going to rape Jewel, and when she fought bacck, he nearly killed her then he ordered me and another person to take and dump her in walker pits and to bring bck her head. He tried to take over the prison and when his people retreated, he killed them all on the side of the road, some of them about Carl's age. He then convinced a new group of people to come and take the prison, only this time he brought a tank. But that wasn't enough,no, he killed the kindest man you could ever meet. Michonne finally put an end to him. "That's my biggest regret, that I didn't put down the Governor myself."

"I'm sorry you feel like that."

"Not all of us can be a calm stick wielding ninja. Some of us have to be hostile killing machines," Jes told him.

"You can change, I did. You can get back to who you were before, Morgan told her.

Jes laughed. "Oh you think I became like this because the dead came back to life? Oh, no Morgan, I was like this before, attitude and all. Life made me this way. The only things that have changed is I actually care about people now," she said as she walked away.