All Nightmare Long

Chapter 411

Author's Note: This chapter was a pain to write. There were so many moving parts involved (or should I say people and walkers'). Plus Jewel was torn between being the calm person, and a wrecked mother. So, just not an easy chapter. Please review.

Infirmary group POV:

Jewel guided Rick over to the guerney and helped him lay Carl down on it. She guided him back out of the way, letting Denise take over. Jewel squeezed Rick's hand as she tried to keep herself composed. She had always been able to keep calm in situations like this, it was what made her good at her job. But it was Carl laying on that table, her son, but she was going to have to findd a way to reconcile both the nurse and the mother in her.

"This is a gunshot?" Denise questioned, bringing Jewel out of her thoughts.

"Hand gun, close range," Michonne answered for them.

Jewel released Rick's hand and turned on the light out of instinct.

"That'll draw them here," Spencer complained.

Jewel turned and glared at him. "If you haven't noticed, my son has been shot. For Denise to operate on him and given him a chance, she's going to need light to see. So, while she is trying to save Carl, you grow some balls, and get ready to fight any of them come this way. That's your job, so do it," she hissed, turning her attention back to Denise.

"Michonne, towel, hold it here," Denise instructed Michonne.

"Please save him, please," Rick begged.

Jewel turned and looked at him as she walked over to him and helped him take off his poncho. "Rick, Rick, look at me," she said as she touched his face and brought his attention to her. "Rick, Denise is going to do her best to save Carl, we have to stay out of her way. Alright?" she asked. She touched his face again making him look at her in the eyes. "Rick, you have to answer me OK? I need to hear that you understand me," she said.

"Yes," Rick answered softly. "Help her, please," he begged.

"Yes, of course," Jewel said as she kissed him. "Denise you are going to need more towels, Mitch help me strip the other bed of the sheets, then you and Beth are going to cut them up. Alright?" she asked as the two of them went to the other cots.

Mitch nodded as he went to help. "He'll be OK," he said to reassure himself.

"Where is Ronnie?" Michonne asked.

Denise looked over at Beth as she looked back down at Carl. "We need to keep pressure on the wound. I'll go in and sew up any lacerations, just like that, right here," she told Michonne. "Now Spencer, I need that pan, the one on that tray," she said.

"Beth, what happened to Ronnie?" Jewel questioned as she she moved over to the next cot. She glanced over at Rick, who was rubbing his hand down his face. "Rick? Are you with me?" she asked.

"Ronnie got bit, she wouldn't let me to cut off her arm. She wanted to die, she said it was one of the few things we could control now a days," Beth explained.

Jewel nodded as she looked at Rick who was backing up to the door. "Rick!" she yelled as he opened the door.

"Rick! What are you doing?" Michonne yelled.

"Rick!" Jewel and Beth both yelled as he opened the door.

"He needs help!" Michonne yelled.

"He's taking them all on, we have to get him," Aaron said.

"What?" Spencer asked.

"We need to help him, we need to get him and bring him back. He's in shock," Beth said.

Jewel ran over to Denise and Michonne. "How many more stutures do you have left?" she asked Denise.

"Just one more," Denise answered.

"But he's out there," Michonne said.

Jewel placed her hands over Michonne's. "Move your hands from underneath mine, and go help him," Jewel instructed.

Michonne looked at her. "Are you sure?"

"Rick asked me to help Carl," Jewel said. "I can't do that if I'm worried about him, and I wouldn't be able to help him if I'm worried about Carl. So, I need to know someone that I trust is out there keeping an eye on him, helping him, so I don't have to worry about both of them. I can't be worried about both of them," Jewel told her.

Michonne nodded and removed her hands from underneath Jewel's and kissed the top of Carl's head before squeezing Jewel's hand.

Michonne went out the door, followed quickly by Beth, Heath, and Aaron.

Mitch noticed Spencer hesitating. "Seriously dude? It's your town to, your family. Are you seriously going to just stand there and watch everyone else fight?"

Spencer didn't say anything as he went out the door.

"Mitch, lock it, and stay inside," Jewel instructed him.

"You've done this before, you're working on pure instinct," Denise said not looking up.

Jewel kissed the top of Carl's head. "I was an emergency room nurse. There was always a rule not to work on family, you're to personally invested, to emotional," she said as she looked at Carl. "But, we don't have that luxury, not now. There isn't any other place I would want to be right now," she said. She looked at Denise.

"Done, now all there is to do is wait. I'm going to go check on my other patients. Mitch, come help me?" Denise said.

Mitch nodded as he hugged Jewel and kissed the top of Carl's head. "You've got to get better Carl, us Atlanta boys need to stick together," he whispered in the teens ear.

Jewel pulled up a chair and sat down next to Carl's bed, rubbing his hair out of his eyes. "I believe that you can hear me, so I'm going to tell you that you need to fight. We need you Carl, every single one of us. Your dad is out there being an idiot, fighting off walkers' because the thought of losing you is to much to bear. I want nothing more than to go drink, but I can't because I love you to much to do that. You need me sober, you need all my facilities in tact. You know Summer is going to yell at you for getting hurt, she's going to blame herself for not being able to protect you. You know how Summer is," she said as she wiped her eyes. "You're going to be fine, baby, you have to be fine," she said as she rubbed his forehead and closed her eyes before opening them up and looked up. "You can't have him back Lori, not yet. I'm not done being his mother yet, he's not done growing up and becoming a great man. So, I'm going to have to insist that you have a chat with JC up there and tell him that he can't have Carl yet. Or Summer, or Rick, or anyone. I'm done losing people, we've given enough, haven't we? We've lost enough. So, just tell him that enough is enough, alright? And, I'll continue to take care of Carl," she said as she kissed Carl's cheek. "And, you keep fighting, baby. That's all you need to do," she told him.

Rick's POV:

Rick watched everything happening in the infirmary, hearing the voices around him but not registering them. He went to the window and looked outside, seeing the walkers. He put his hand on the hatchet and took it of it's holder, then went to the door and opened it. He could hear the voices calling after him, including Jewel. But he couldn't concentrate on the voices. all he could concentrate was on the walkers', killing them and taking back Alexandria. He needed to take his anger out on something and this was the best way for him to do it. He took the ax and decapitated the walker closest to him. He kicked another walker in the stomach as he took off the walkers head. He saw Michonne next to him, with others coming out. "Knock 'em away, drive 'em down, we can beat 'em, that's it we can do this together," he told them.

Gabriel POV:

Gabriel looked out the window, bouncing Judith to hush her. Mika looked out the window with him.

"They are fighting back," Mika said.

Gabriel nodded as he walked to the front of the church, handing Judith to Barbara. "Can you take her?"

Barbara stood up taking her. "Of course."

Mika gave him the machete. "I'll stay here, watch Hope and Judith, she said.

"Gabriel, what are you doing?" Tobin asked.

Gabriel looked at the group. "We've been praying together, praying that God will ave our town. Well our prayers have been answered. God will save Alexandria, because God has given us the courage to save it ourselves," he said.

Alexandrian's POV:

The red headed woman stopped near the wall. "People are fighting," Emily said.

Joey, who hadn't separated from the group yet, stopped. "They must not have been able to get to the cars, the shot we heard. Axel, you and Nikki keep going, try and help Glenn as planned. The rest of us are going to join the fight," he said as they nodded and ran to help. Eric and Olivia ran out of the house joining in the walked in to the house. "Guys, it's thinning outside in front."

Carol and Mar walked in. "We need to get out there, Rick is making a stand," Carol said.

"How's that?" Eugene asked.

"He's out there fighting them with Michonne and some others. It's time, up the alley. I'm going," Carol said. She looked at Tara. "Denise is safe."

"Did you see her?" Tara asked.

"We made sure her and Mitch got to the infirmary," Mar said. She looked at Morgan. "The wolf is dead. I'm going to go help them," Carol said.

"I'm going to help Rick," Carol said.

"I'm going too," Morgan said.

"I'm with you," Tara said.

"OK me too," Rosita said.

"Right behind you," Eugene added.

Rosita and Mar both turned and looked at him. "Eugene you don't have too," Rosita said.

"That's incorrect, I do. No one gets to clock out today. And hell this is a story people are gonna tell," Eugene answered.

"You're only going to come out there if you can guarantee that you aren't going to freeze," Mar instructed. "You can not freeze,"she added.

"I won't," Eugene said.

Rosita walked out. "This way, come on," she instructed.

Mar kicked a walker down and drove her knife in it's head.

The Wolfe who Carol shot looked up at Morgan and growled.

"I'm sorry," Morgan said as he killed it.