Better Days

Chapter 379

Author's Note:I swear I'll get to the Hilltop and Summer here in a bit. Kind of want to get Alexandria rolling. So, it annoyed me that we never saw anyone talk to Betsy about her husbands death, so of course I have to fix that. Review please.

Michonne and Ronnie's POV:

Michonne looked at Ronnie before she knocked. "Thanks for coming with me."

"I know what it's like to lose a husband, the grief she'll be experiencing. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," Ronnie assured her friend.

Michonne nodded as she knocked. "I wish Quinn, Heath or Brad would have been available, they know her."

"We've got walkers' outside the gate, we're going to be relying on each other, this is the perfect time to get to know our neighbors. When one of the soldiers on base would die, we'd all go over to the spouses' houses and offer support. This is a war, just fighting a different enemy, but still a war," Ronnie said as Betsy opened the door.

"Betsy, I wanted to come and tell you how sorry I am about David. He asked me to make sure that you knew how important you were to him," Michonne said.

Betsy looked at the two women before she moved out of the way and let them in. "He said that?"

"Yes, he wrote you a letter but it got lost," Michonne told her. "He said you were what brought him back, gave him joy in this world."

Betsy sat on the couch and cried. "He did the same for me."

Ronnie sat next to her. "I lost my husband back in Georgia. We were together for a long time, but I don't think it matters how long a person is with another person, it's still as painful. But that love that we shared with the other person, that's what is important."

"He was a good man. We were talking about having a baby. I thought he was insane, wanting to bring a baby into this world, we both knew what it was like outside the gates. But, it was safe in here, or so we thought. We were talking about it, not seriously, not until your group came in," Betsy told them.

Ronnie and Michonne both exchanged glances. "Judith and Hope do make a lot of people rethink there out look on life," Michonne said. "Judith was just a new born when I met everyone, and I couldn't believe that a little life was born into this world. But, there she was, then now there's Hope. They make us want to fight for a better future."

"That's what David said. He ran back here the day you all walked through the gate and he said, you aren't going to believe this, but they have two babies. They came all the way from Georgia with two babies," she told them. "I thought you all were insane. Why would you all want to stay with a group with two alarm bells for the living dead? Then I saw you all, the next couple days. The way you all were with both of them, it made me see that it could work. I was finally ready," she said.

"Is it possible that you are?" Ronnie asked.

"No," Betsy answered. "I wish I was," she said.

Michonne squeezed her shoulder. "I'm sorry, I really am. If there was something that I could have done, I would have," she said as she looked out the window. "Rick's coming toward the gate, we should go out."

"I think I'll stay in here," Betsy told them.

"You need to hear this," Ronnie said as she held the door open for the grieving widow.

Alexandria POV:

Rick walked up to the walls with Jewel next to his side, her carrying Hope in a carrier. "You can hear it, some of you saw it. They got back here, half of them, still enough to surround us twenty deep. Look, I know you're scared, you haven't been through anything like this. But we're safe now," he told the members of Alexandria. "The panel the truck hit seems intact, we'll reinforce it just in case. Either way, the wall's are gonna hold together, can you?" he asked.

Jewel glanced around eyeing each member of her group then took a breath. "Rick's right, you haven't been through anything like this, and your instinct is to panic, but you have to be able to calm yourselves. You're going to get through this, we're going to get you through this. But you're going to have to let us help you," she told them.

"We can't turn off our emotions like you can," Bruce told her.

Carol glanced at Jewel and shook her head at the younger woman. Jewel took a breath and looked at him. "You think we aren't scared? My daughter is out side those gates, as well as my brother and men that have earned that right to be called my brothers. And women who are my sisters. They've earned that right because we've shed blood and would die for each other. They are out there, fighting for this town right now. I went back outside those gates to make sure that the men that came in here and killed some of us wouldn't kill anyone else. We have emotions, those emotions keep us alive Bruce. But we know how to use those emotions to protect those we love."

"Daryl, Abraham, Sasha, Axel and Jes have vehicles. They're gonna lead 'em away, just like the others," Rick said. "Summer, David, Nikki and Emily are going to distract them with the grenades. Glenn and Nicholas are gonna walk through that front gate after," he said.

"They are gonna be back," Rosita said.

"We just need to make sure that there's something to come back to," Beth said. "And we can't do that alone," she added.

"Beth's right," Rick said. "They know what they're doing and we know what we need to do. We keep the noise to a minimum, pull our blinds at night, even better keep the lights out. We'll try to make this place as quiet as a graveyard, see if they move on," he told them.

"This place is a graveyard," Francine said.

"We're still breathing," Jewel pointed out. "We get it that you've never had to face anything like this before," she said. "You've had two years of relative safety, living with electricity, plenty of food, no one breaking down the gates, no walkers' at your gates. That's two more years then we had. Two more years of safety then we've had. Our home was blasted down by a one eyed maniac with a eye patch. We are calm because we know that we need to use our heads," she said as she rubbed Hope's back. "We work together or we die alone," she insisted.

"The quarry broke open and those walkers' were heading this way, all of them. The plan Rick put in place kept that from happening," Aaron said.

"If Rick hadn't had that plan together, hadn't seen those walkers', then Alexandria might not be standing," Quinn pointed out.

"I was out there recruiting with Daryl. I wanted to try to get into a cannery and Daryl wanted to keep looking for people. We did what I wanted and we wound up in a trap set by those people, they must have followed our tracks. These people who attacked us, they found there way back because of me," Aaron admitted.

Rick looked at Aaron. "They'll be more to talk about," he said as Deanna walked away.

"Deanna? Deanna?" Tobin called after her.

"Deanna can't even deal with this, how are we supposed to?" Anna asked.

"Deanna just lost her husband and son in a short amount of time," Gus responded.

"So, she's supposed to be the leader of this town, and when we need her what does she do? Nothing," Bruce said.

"You people are disgusting," Jewel said. "You all are a bunch of cowards who don't want to take responsibility for your own actions, and you want everyone to fix everything for you. You survive in this world by what you put forward. Deanna isn't able to lead right now, and you all should have compassion for her, but instead you just want to blame her for not saving you. You all need to pull your weight," Jewel said as she kissed the top of Hope's head watching everyone disperse.

Mar's POV:

Mar stood in the back of the pantry taking inventory as she looked up at the sound of voices.

"The soups and sauces can be stretched out with some extra water," Olivia said from the front.

"What difference does that make if we'll be dead tomorrow?" Betsy questioned.

"We have to ration," Olivia said.

"I can't spend whatever time I have left watching my family starve," Bruce said

"Wait," Olivia said as they pushed through.

"Sorry Olivia, I just don't see the point," Bruce said.

"The point is that we all have to live here and we all have to survive," Mar said as she came out of the back.

"Stay out of this, Mar, this doesn't concern you," Bruce said.

Mar knocked the can out of Bruce's hand. "It does," she told him. "My family is in here just as you are."

"Look we're not used to starving, you are, so it's not going to be a big deal if you do it again," Annie said.

"Don't make me slap you," Mar warned the young woman. "If we ration, no one will starve," she said.

"I can't do it," Bruce said.

"Hey, hey stop right now, stop it!" Spencer said as he walked in with Quinn. "This stuff is for everyone, we need to make it last if we are gonna survive," he said.

"Someone with sense," Mar said.

"Why don't you go make sure the gates closed Spencer?" Bruce asked.

"Seriously?" Quinn asked.

"Yeah, that was me, I did that. But that truck outside the walls, it'd be inside if it wasn't for me. I did that too," Spenser told them. "If I didn't, maybe we wouldn't be talking right now. Where were you Bruce?" he asked.

"Probably hiding in your home locked in a closet," Mar said.

"Doing this will start us down a road where nothing matters, where no one else matters. And then we'll all look back at this moment right now as when we destroyed this place," Spenser told them.

Mar watched as they put everything back and walked out. "Not to bad, Spenser. I was going to start dropping things on the floor," she said.

"How would that help?" Deanna asked curiously.

"If they want to be selfish, then I can be too," Mar said as she walked out.

"Mom let's get you home," Quinn told her as they walked away.

Monroe house later that afternoon:

Quinn smiled as she looked at the plans Deanna was working on. "This is good, thinking about expansion. Dad would be proud," she said.

"It'll take a while to get things working and under control," Deanna said.

"It will but it'll all be worth it," Quinn said as she squeezed her hand. "I'm going to do what I can do to help," she said as she heard a crush. "What is that?"

Deanna stood up and went into the kitchen and looked at Spenser. "Spenser?"

"Yeah my bad," Spencer said.

Quinn glanced at the bottle on the counter. "Spenser, please tell me that you didn't take this from the pantry."

"Can't tell you that dear sister," Spencer said as he stood up and went to the counter.

"Are you drunk?" Deanna asked.

"Getting there," Spencer answered.

"You stole this after all your big talk?" Deanna asked. "All that talk was bullshit?"

"No, if they all went in and raided the pantry and everyone knew it, and saw it, then it would be the end. But one person? One person and no one would ever know. So why not me? I stopped that little run at the bank, I deserve a reward," Spencer said.

Quinn walked over and slapped him. "Aiden died, that doesn't mean you get to take his spot as the coward of the family."

Spencer raised his hand to his cheek and looked at her. "You gonna let her talk to me like that mom?"

"She's right," Deanna said softly.

"What gives you the right to do this Spencer? You're taking food out of your nieces mouth, out of the mouths of children. You're being reckless and stupid," Quinn told him.

"They are all right mom and you know it. We're all gonna be dead real soon," Spencer said.

"Damn it Spencer," Deanna said.

"Me? Now that is some bullshit. You're the reason we're so screwed. You made us this way, we were never safe here, but you didn't want to see that. You just wanted to dream. What happened to dad, to Aiden that's all you," Spencer said to her.

Quinn pushed Spencer and punched him making him go to the ground. "Stay down, Spencer, I swear to God, you need to stay down. Mom, he's not right, don't listen to him. You are an idiot Spencer," she said as she went over and hugged her mother. "I'm going to clean this mess up, mom, you go rest," she said as she kissed the top of her head.