All Nightmare Long

Chapter 454

Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long, I've been insane at work and literally falling into bed when I get home. Plus I'm putting this story on Watt Padd and adding pictures. Up to chapter 51. Please review, it means a lot.

Jewel and Axel's POV:

Jewel stood on the platform and over looking the gate keeping watch. Axel climbed up the ladder. "You on guard alone?" he asked.

"Priority is rebuilding," Jewel answered. "We need to get those guard towers back up, build more, build a barn or two. Hopefully get some more animals."

"We will," Axel said. "You're worried about them," he stated rather than questioned. "So am I, but they'll be fine. They always are."

"Until they aren't," Jewel pointed out. "Summer's head not in the game, a few of them have only been out a time or two, plus they've got a couple of people from Hilltop that have no reason to be out there."

"When you first met me, you would have said the same thing," Axel reminded her. "I would have been the last person that should have survived, but I did because we did it together."

"We had time to get to know you," Jewel said.

"We didn't have time to get to know Abraham and Rosita before we were ready to follow them and Eugene to Washington for a cure," Axel pointed out.

Jewel looked at him. "So you are telling me that I have to trust that they will look out for each other."

"You're usually giving us the pep talk, glad I could help," Axel said with a grin. "They won't be back tonight."

"No Rick and Jes will wait until dark, the element of surprise," Jewel said.

"You think Summer is going to be OK? I don't think I've ever heard her disagree with you or Rick before," Axel said.

"Believe it or not, I'm glad that she feels like she can tell us if she thinks we're wrong," Jewel said. "One day her, Carl, Lexi, Mika and the others, will be running these places."

"I can't ever see you and Rick sitting on the porch in rocking chair," Axel said.

Jewel laughed. "Well I hope that it gets quiet enough for us to sit on the porch and not have to worry about threats, humans or walkers."

"Do you think that we'll ever get to that point?" Axel asked.

"I don't know, every time I think we're done with one threat, another comes up,"Jewel said. "Usually we don't know about the human's ones, usually we're blindsided," Jewel said.

"Like Terminus,"Axel said.

Jewel looked out at the road. "I can still see those bodies hanging like pieces of meat, and I don't know if it'll ever leave me. We've lost people since then, but Bob...Bob losing his leg, dying like that, it's sticking with me like nothing else has. And, I sympathize with what Summer said about the image of Negan killing the man at Hilltop, seeing it over and over. I understand why she would be afraid that this is something we shouldn't be doing. But if we can stop it before it happens this time, before they come for us, we have to take the chance."

"I think we all agree otherwise more people then Morgan would have fought against it," Axel said.

"Spencer doesn't agree that his sister should be out there, she is a mother for goodness sake," Jewel said sarcastically.

Axel laughed. "He does realize that you are a mother too, right? I mean you have a toddler or an infant attached to you 99% of the time. Not to mention that you have Cal, Summer, Mika and Lexi and Enid. Plus you take care of all of us."

"I know. He spends more time drinking then doing what needs to be done. I can't hold hiding in the bottle, I've done it enough,"Jewel said.

"But you aren't doing it now, you aren't endangering us by not being 100% aware of your surroundings. If something came through those gates , you'd be ready, Spenser wouldn't," Axel said.

"There's nothing that can make him stop drinking, not until he's ready to, but him being on guard duty while he's drunk. I can't risk it, I won't risk it," Jewel told him. "He'll have to be assigned to another job, but this is to important to risk it," she said.

"I agree,"Axel told her. "Go on, spend time with the little people, I've got this. Gus is scheduled to relieve me this evening."

Jewel nodded as she slung her rifle over her shoulder. "Mika and I've been trying to teach Judith to walk," she said.

"We'll be chasing her soon enough," Axel said as she climbed down.

Jes, Rick and Andy's POV:

Jes walked up the dark road when she saw the lights of the cars come up. She watched as they turned off the lights and people got out of the cars and walked up to him.

"Any movement?" Rick asked.

"One guard does a walk around every hour, the lights are activated by motion, so they'll know as soon as Andy pulls up. The lights will go off once they make contact. They aren't going to want to bring attention to themselves by lighting the whole area like a landing strip. Joey, take a group surround the back, make sure no one comes out that way," Jes instructed.

"Got it," Joey answered.

"You got the head?" Jes asked Andy.

"Yeah," Andy responded. "It's in the car."

"You got this?" Jes questioned.

"He's got this,"Rick said.

Jes looked at Andy. "This all depends on you, one wrong move, we aren't getting your friend out, plus you may not get out. So I ask you again, do you have this?"

Andy looked at her. "I got this," he answered.

Jes nodded. "Good. I'm going to be in the vehicle with you, in the back."

"What if they check the car?" Andy asked.

"Then I guess they are the first to die, aren't they?" Jes answered.

Andy looked at Jes then at Rick. "I don't know whose scarier, you or him," he told him.

Jes shrugged. "We're on the same team, so it doesn't really matter," she said. "We ready to do this?"

"Let's get this show on the road," Daryl said.

Jes nodded. "See you on the other side," she told Rick as she went over to the truck.

Andy glanced at Jes when she climbed on to the floor. "How will they know when it's time?"

"They'll know," Jes assured him.

"It really scares me that you all are good at things like this," Andy told her.

"I've had experience doing things like this before the turn. Let's get your friend," Jes said.

Andy took a breath as he started to start the car and drove up the road with the light on. A loud voice came through the intercom. "Stop right there. Announce yourself asshole," the voice said.

"It's Andy from the hill top, it's done," he said.

"Step out!" the man said as two men walked out of of the building, the lights going out.

"Is that it?"the man asked. "Bring it here, shit face," the man ordered as Andy held out the the bag. "I don't want the bag needle dick," he told him as Andy takes out the head. "Will you look at this shit? Will you look at this shit?"the bigger man said as the other guy got closer.

"He broke my hand, I broke his nose, that's why he looks that way," Andy explained as the second guy took the head.

The second guard moved the mouth up and down. "Little bitch broke my nose. Wah," the guard said as he laughed and dropped the head. "OK looks like you learned, I'll get your guy, you go home, you bring us more stuff next week hmm?" the guard said as he slapped Andy's face and went inside.
First guard whistled Happy Birthday as Daryl came from behind slicing his throat then slammed the knife in his head. The others running, up, Jes getting out of the car, going to help the body away.

"Well well well, look who it is," the other guard said as he came out with Craig. Michonne stuck her sword in the guard stomach, Andy and Jesus ran to grab Craig. "I'll bring you back, alright?" Andy told Craig.

Rick bent down and threw the keys at Daryl.

"Move the vehicle out of site," Jes told Summer and Tara.

Daryl opened the door, the others go in the building flanking out. "Check the doors, find the arsenal, we take them out," Rick whispered.

Rosita and Aaron ran ahead, Rock nodded and started opening doors, them going in killing the men in their sleep.

Tara, Summer Jesus and Gabriel's POV:

Summer leaned against the door of the driver site out side the car where Tara was sitting. She turned and looked at Summer and leaned on the window. "What's on your mind?" she asked Tara.

"Things," Tara admitted and looked at Gabriel. "You still a priest?"

Gabriel thought for a minute. "Rick, Carl, Jewel, Summer taught me about guns, other weapons, how to contribute. I'm still a priest."

Tara looked at him. "I lied to my girlfriend this morning. I um, she got me thinking about something so I told her I loved her for the first time. That's how I told her, covering something up," she admitted.

"What were you covering?" Gabriel questioned.

Tara looked at Summer then back at him. "That I had done something like this before, that I didn't like it," she said.

Summer squeezed her arm. "We've forgiven you for that, you have to forgive yourself for it. I just never thought I'd be on this side of things."

"You aren't participating in it, not like I did," Tara said.

"I'm here, might as well be inside, just as guilty," Summer told her.

"Do you?"Jesus questioned.

"Do you love her?" Gariel asked her.

"Yeah," Tara answered.

"So you know what you're fighting for,"Jesus said.

"Hey, when you showed up at the prison, you had no idea what kind of people we were. You believed what the Governor said, you weren't the first. Remember I'm dating Joey, he was involved with the Governor. This isn't the same, it's not,"Summer assured her.

TBC

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