Better Days

Chapter 378

Author's Note:Hope you all had a great holiday. Now, that all the hoopla is over, let's check in with our group. Please review, it means a lot. Or send me a PM and let me know you are still interested. We've got a long way to go, especially with the writers saying they think the series can go to twelve seasons. Please review.

Jes, Axel and David's POV:

Jes leaned against the car as she crossed her arms. She glanced back to the car. "David is taking his sweet time on getting here,"she said to Axel.

"Did you hear the sounds of the walkers? They probably got back home already. We'll have to figure out a way to help them," Axel said.

"Do you think they got in?"Emily asked from the backseat. "Do you think any of them are still alive?"

"They are," Jes said. "When David gets back here, I want you all to head back to Alexandria. You may or may not be able to get by in the car. Hopefully you can try to get ahead of the herd," she said as she held up her weapon after hearing a noise. "Get the car ready," she told Axel as she took a few steps forward. "David, what the hell took you so long?'

"It took a while to avoid the herd,"David answered.

"What about the people that said shot you?" Jes questioned.

"I was shot,"David answered as she nodded toward his shoulder. "I wouldn't make up something like that. I tried to help Summer,"he said.

"You killed the guy that shot you, right?" Jes asked.

"Of course,"David answered.

"I'm going to go after Summer. You re going to need to get that wound looked after. You all need to get back to Alexandria," Jes told him.

"The herd is probably already there,"David responded.

"It probably is,"Jes answered as she watched David.

"We should cut our losses," David said.

"What do you mean cut our losses?"Emily asked from the car. "My brother is there, isn't yours too?"

"Our family is there,"Axel said. "We don't give up on family and we certainly don't leave them behind. I can't believe that you would even suggest that we cut our losses."

Jes looked at him. "You're hiding something. Did you suggest that to Summer? Did you suggest to her that she turn her back on her family? On your brother? Man I guess that the apple didn't fall far from the tree,"she said.

"What do you mean?"David asked.

Jes watched as Axel got out of the car. "You are going back to Alexandria, and you are going to help protect it. You are going to do that because you owe it to everyone there, especially to your brother. You don't have a choice in this matter, do you understand?"

David looked at her. "Yea, I understand."

"I know what you are thinking because I know you. You are your father's son, a coward. You act brave but push comes to shove but the truth is you just want to protect your self, screw everyone else. Get back to Alexandria and protect it, save people and pray to God that you don't have to explain to your brother why the woman he loves isn't alive but you are,"Jes told him. Axel, get him back to Alexandria and help out."

"Got it," Axel said.

Lexi and Enid POV:

Lexi ran after Enid and grabbed her. "What are you doing? Why did you leave Alexandria?"

"Why did you follow me?" Enid asked.

"Because we don't do things alone,"Lexi told her.

"I'm not one of you," Enid pointed out.

"You certainly aren't one of the Alexandrian's, are you? No, you know how to survive out here, you feel claustrophobic in there. You ran because you don't want to see any more people you care about die. You also don't want to get close to anyone else because you don't want them to die. Maybe you could pretend to care before we got to Alexandria , maybe you could pretend to care about Ron, but you were never really serious, you could always leave without it hurting. But it changed when we entered into those gates," Lexi said.

Enid looked her. "Yeah? How so?"

"Because we get it," Lexi said. "You can't hide who you are from us because we know. We have been there, and we want to help you, even if you don't want it. So, here I am, outside the walls with a whole lot of walkers' surrounding us because you don't have to do it alone anymore."

"I didn't ask you to follow me,"Enid said.

"Fine, you didn't ask me to follow you, but I'm here and if you haven't noticed there's walkers' at the gate and I really can't go back inside right at the moment," Lexi said. "But, if you want to go out there and do this alone and leave me alone, go ahead, since you don't need any help," she said.

"Glad I have your permission," Enid said as she turned around and walked away. She sighed as she stopped and turned around. "I know somewhere we can hide out until the walkers' die down," she said. "Then you can go back inside."

Lexi gave a smirk as she ran to catch up with her. "Knew you cared," she told the other teen.

"Don't make me regret this," Enid told her.

"You know, it's alright to care about people," Lexi told her.

"Do we have to talk?" Enid asked.

"We are going to be together for a little bit and we are about the same age and the only females, so it would be nice to get to know each other. This is the perfect time, don't you think?" Lexi asked.

"No,"Enid answered.

Lexi walked with her, being quiet for a few minutes. "Where are we going?"

"Away from here," Enid answered.

Lexington grabbed Enid's arm. "Look, you may not like it, but we are stuck together for the foreseeable future. It really doesn't matter why we are both out here, but we are and somehow we need to work together so we can help Alexandria."

"Nothing is left back there," Enid told her.

"You don't know that!" Lexi said.

"This is why I don't get attached," Enid said as she pulled away from the other teen. "You don't get attached, you don't get hurt. You just have to worry about yourself, and then you don't get hurt."

"That's not working out to well for you is it?" Lexi asked as she caught up to her. "You wouldn't have stayed with Carl and me to protect Judith and Hope if you didn't care. You wouldn't have called Carl and me back inside if you didn't care. You would have left me to fend for myself if you didn't care," she pointed out.

Enid sighed as she went into a small building. "Fine, so maybe I do care, but it doesn't matter, we're all dead. Maybe not today, but we're all going to die and it doesn't matter," she said as she walked further into the building.

Mar and Mitch's POV:

Mar knocked on Jessie's door and came in before she heard anyone say anything. she went into the kitchen and saw Jessie on the floor cleaning up blood. Mar grabbed a rag and got on her knees to help.

'Mitch is a brave kid, you should be proud,"Jessie said not looking up from what she was doing.

"I am,"Mar answered.

"I can't believe he is the same age as Sam, he acted a whole lot older and handled himself differently. He wasn't scared at the thought of having to kill someone. It was a bit disconcerting of how calm he was," Jessie said without looking up.

"It's a nature vs. future thing. Sam was safe behind these walls, Mitch wasn't. I'm not sure which is better. I wish that Mitch and Mika had been able to be protected, a long with Lexi, Carl, and Summer. Mitch is never going to be an innocent ten year old, he's never going to have that chance. Sam's innocence might be gone now, but he had two years, almost three of being able to be a kid. It'll be different now, and he will have to learn, and it'll be an adjustment, but he'll learn, you all will," Mar said.

"Do you remember your first kill?" Jessie asked.

Mar looked at her then down at the blood stain. "I remember them all. I may not know all there names, but I remember them. None of us like killing, but it's a necessity of this life now," she said.

"I'm not sure everyone will understand that," Jessie said.

"They don't have a choice. These people that came in here today, they weren't going to stop until someone stopped them," Mar said.

"How do people become like that?" Jessie asked.

"This world," Mar answered. "There's no law and order, it lets people do and get away with things that they'd be arrested for or even put on the death for. Believe it or not, these people aren't as bad as others we've ran into. And, they won't be the worst that's out there," she said. "Mitch, come on we need to get home. Rick will be having a talk with everyone soon."

Mitch came down stairs. "Sam won't come down," he said.

"Thank you for watching him," Jessie said. "You're very brave," she said as they turned to leave.