All Nightmare Long

Chapter 530

Author's Note: Summer is talking in my head how she is going to the Sanctuary with Carl and Jesus. Well Jesus first then when she sees Carl. I am attempting to talk her out of this, but she is a Dixon and I know she is going to offer something stupid to free her Uncle. Don't worry, she won't be trapped. Hopefully I can calm her down before I actually write that part. But first, I need to get back to Alexandria and show what's going on there, and get Lexi and Enid on their way. No roller skating in this. Please review.

Jewel, Rick, Carl, Michonne and Aaron:

Jewel put her bag on her back. "You two go ahead and get Carl, I'm going to go check on the girls before we go. I'll meet you in Carl's room, or downstairs."

"You sure you want to go?" Rick asked.

"If you're going, I'm going. You don't mind do you Aaron?" Jewel questioned as she squeezed Rick's hand.

"Couldn't think of any two people I want more to watch my back," Aaron answered.

"I won't be long," Jewel said as she went to check on the girls.

Aaron and Rick walked into Carl's room where Michonne was already talking to him.

"You should come with us," Rick told Carl as he moved closer to his son.

Carl sighed. "Someone has to be here with Mika, Judith and Hope," he answered as he continued to throw darts.

"There's people who want to help, we'll only be gone a few days, at the most. We need supplies, they're gonna be back soon," Rick told him.

"Is this how it's going to be now?" Carl asked.

"Yes, it is, you know that," Rick said.

Jewel came to the door and stood by Aaron.

"See you in a few days," Carl said as he went to pull darts out of the wall.

"Hope and Judith are both taking a nap," Jewel told Michonne. "Mika is sticking close to both of them," she told the other woman.

"They won't be any problem, Carl here is going to help me out," Michonne assured the worried mother.

Jewel looked over at Carl. "I'll meet you two downstairs, I want to talk to Carl alone."

"Don't be too long, we need to get going," Rick said as he kissed Jewel.

"He'll come around," Aaron told Rick as they walked out of the room with Michonne following them.

Jewel closed the door to Carl's bedroom. "Carl," she said.

"Mom if you're going to order me to go," Carl said.

"Carl, will you please put down the darts and look at me?" Jewel asked.

Carl sighed and turned and looked at her.

Jewel gave a small smile. "I'm not going to order you to go with us, it would only cause tension between you and your dad."

"You know this is wrong, why are you going along with it?" Carl asked.

"Your father isn't ready to fight right now, the thought of losing any more of us is frightening to him, and it is to me too. But the thing of loving someone as much as I love your dad, is that sometimes you have to support the other person even if you know it's wrong. I know that your dad is going to come around, but until then, he needs all the support he can get," Jewel told the teen.

"I can't pretend I'm OK with this," Carl told her.

"I'm not asking you too, your dad isn't asking you too. I'm not pretending this is OK, it is anything but OK but I am supporting your dad," Jewel said as she went and hugged him. "Look after your sisters OK? I love you," she told him.

"I love you too," Carl told her as he hugged her back.

Jewel left the room going downstairs. "He isn't coming, I'm not going to force him. You sure you don't want to come with us? We've got plenty of people to help out with the girls," she asked Michonne.

"No, I'm good," Michonne told her.

Rick took out a walkie talkie from his bag. "If you change your mind, we're headed North."

"Be careful," Michonne warned them as they started to leave. "Watch each other's back," she told the three of them.

"You know we will," Jewel said as they walked out the door.

Jes and Joey's POV:

Jes put her bag in a car and turned being face to face with Joey. "Some personal space would be nice."

"You're leaving? Now?" Joey asked.

"I won't be gone for long," Jes told him.

"Are you going to hunt supplies for Negan?" Joey asked almost disgustedly.

"No, that's the last thing I'm going to do," Jes told him. "I'm going to go get some of those guns we hid in the cemetery. See the people at Arlington, tell them what's going on, now that I've met the boogey man in person, and tell them what we're up against."

"You're going to go to them for help?" Joey asked.

"Didn't say for help, but to warn them. Look the little troll at Hilltop sent us out on a mission with incomplete details, maybe he didn't know how many followers Negan had, maybe he did. Look, maybe it's the soldier in me, and the fact that most of them were soldiers or cops, or law enforcement, but they need to have facts, details. They can make plans, they aren't emotionally attached, they can think logically, get ready for an attack," Jes told him as she leaned against the car.

Joey looked at her, giving her a puzzling look. "Jes, are you saying you're too emotionally attached to us, that's why this happened?"

"Isn't it? What made me good at my job was that I didn't let personal feelings get involved, not having relationships, not feeling a damn thing," Jes told him.

"Welcome to the world of being human, Jes. We're not a job, we're family," Joey told her.

"Two of those family members are dead, a baby is going to grow up without a father, Rick is graveling like a dog to that bastard," Jes hissed.

"And you think that if you didn't care for us that none of this would have happened?" Joey asked as he let out a laugh. "Look, Jes, none of this is your fault. If you didn't have us, you could have easily wound up as one of them. You always did what you had to survive, you played the game well at Woodbury, we won against the governor. But, this is bigger than Woodbury or Terminus. This is a whole new game, one which I'm glad you're on our side and not part of the savior's, trying to undermine Negan. When we fight, we're going to need your expertise. You think you can convince them to join us?"

"I'm not even going to try. I'm just going to set out the facts that I know, tell them how many people that I observed, since we got one outpost they most likely will have more," Jes told him.

"When we fight, we're going to need help," Joey told her.

"Not to mention guns," Jes huffed. "Can't believe I'd see the day Rick Grimes wouldn't fight."

Joey took a breath. "He's shaken. I'm shaken. We lost Glenn and Abraham, and it's not like they were bitten, or shot, they were beaten by a crazed maniac who named his bat Lucille. And he did it with a damn grin on his face. He had both Summer and Carl and was threatening both of them. If I was Rick and it was my kids up there, I'd seriously think about double crossing him right away. I get it, I do, I just don't like it. Be careful out there, they may still be on the road."

"I could use the company," Jes offered.

"Nah, I promised Summer I'd watch out for everyone while she isn't here. I'll probably go check on Mitch and Mar," Joey said.

Jes nodded before getting in the car.