Between the Thorns

Chapter 52

By the time they climbed cautiously out of the sewers, the smoke from the attack had mostly cleared and the sun was rising in the sky. Jean was tired and her body was sore. The only sleep she got was in fitful patches as her head lolled against Daryl's shoulder with their backs against the rounded cement of the tunnel. People moved quickly and quietly, filling bags from their homes with whatever necessities they could find. Food and supplies were running thin. The majority of the bags Jean saw people coming back out of their homes with looked like they were still most of the way empty. That was Negan's biggest mistake. He pushed these people to the point of desperation and then kept pushing. Almost like he wanted them to revolt. Maybe he did, Jean thought. Though she couldn't guess a reason why Negan would want a war with the people that kept them in food and supplies. It might boil down to him simply being bored and not caring if people died for his amusement. Whatever the reason, Jean was glad to be out of the Sanctuary and away from him.

"Where are we going?," Jean asked, shaking up the bottle of formula she made for Gracie and handing it to Daryl so he could feed the girl without taking her out of the sling he was using to keep her secured against his chest.

"Hilltop," he said, raising a brow when he saw the hesitation on Jean's face.

"Rose slipped one of them a knife," Jean admitted. "One of her friends from Gavin's outpost. That's why we had to leave and come here."

Daryl looked ahead at Rose, watching her long braids swing in time with her movements. She was shouldered up next to Carl. The two of them were walking so close the backs of their hands kept brushing together. As Daryl watched them, instead of looking irritated, Jean noticed that he had a gleam of pride in his eyes. Daryl trained Rose to hunt and fight. Not to follow orders. She helped her friends because she thought it was the right thing to do.

"It'll be alright," Daryl assured her. "I'll talk to Maggie."

Jean tucked her arm around Daryl's waist, leaning against him and rubbing her hand over Gracie's hair as they walked. She felt it when his body went stiff. And when she looked around to find the source of his discomfort, she sighed. Dwight helped them escape from Negan's soldiers. But Laura caught him before she escaped. So now Dwight couldn't go back to the Sanctuary. And regardless of where his loyalties lied, Daryl still hated his guts for killing a friend of his. And for feeding him dog food and blasting music in his ear. And Dwight hated Daryl for killing John. And for bringing Sherry back to the Sanctuary after she escaped. If they kept trading blows, their feud was going to end up with one or both of them dead.

"We're all on the same side," Jean urged, her grip on Daryl tightening slightly. He was giving Dwight a dirty look. But with a baby carrier strapped to his chest, he looked slightly less intimidating than usual.

"We can't get rid of Negan if we're fighting each other," Jean said, this time speaking loud enough for Dwight to hear her as well. "So the two of you better bury it."

"She's right," Dwight admitted. The sun was gleaming off the bad side of his face, making it look even more like raw hamburger than usual. It was hard for Jean to look at him and not feel a stab of pity. He was her friend once. John's friend. She hoped the good man that he used to be was still inside him somewhere.

"I don't trust you," Daryl huffed. "...and I don't like you."

"Fuck you too," Dwight spit back.

Lily tugged on Dwight's shirt, telling him he owed a quarter to the swear jar. He laughed, swinging the girl up onto his back. And Jean was relieved that her daughter's childish antics seemed to have broken a bit of the tension between the two men.

Just when it seemed like Dwight and Daryl might be willing to get on the same page, even if the truce was temporary, a panicked hush rumbled through the group of refugees. Jean felt Daryl tug her down. And before she realized what was happening he was slipping out of Gracie's baby carrier and handing the little girl over to her.

"They're gonna spot us," Rose hissed, scrambling closer to her mother and pointing towards the road. Jean's eyes widened. There was a huge convoy of Negan's soldiers on the road. Probably hunting for them. And from the looks of it, they had absolutely no chance of making a stand if they were spotted. Not only were they outgunned, they had too many elderly people and children with them. They wouldn't be able to make a run for it either.

"They're all from one of the outposts," Dwight whispered, glancing at Daryl. "They have no idea we're not still on their side."

Daryl nodded before he pulled Jean close, pressing his forehead against hers and telling her to be careful. She clung to his shirt, keeping her hold on him until the fabric slipped from between her fingers. She held her breath as he and Dwight approached the convoy. There was a small chance the two of them might be shot on sight. But that didn't happen. And Jean let her breath out as they successfully led the convoy away from their hiding place and back towards Alexandria.

The walk to Hilltop was long. Jean's feet were swollen and sore by the time she arrived. Like she expected, not everyone there was happy to see them. Especially since one of their people was killed by Simon the night before, during the attack on Alexandria. Jean was grateful to Michonne and Carl for taking her side. She sat at the picnic table and let the girls eat her share of the dinner they were provided with, too scared and nervous about what might be happening to Daryl to eat anything herself. She jumped at the sound of a gunshot, quickly grabbing Rose's arm to keep her seated. Maggie shot one of the men inside the holding cell. Revenge for the friend of hers that Simon killed.

"There's nothing we can do for him now," Jean whispered, holding Rose against her. "Please don't make any more trouble." Rose nodded, shrugging her mother off. She went back to eating her dinner. But Jean could see the girl tracking Maggie with her eyes with a hateful look on her face as she ate.

Rose leaned back on the couch, waiting until her mother and sister were asleep. They cuddled together in the bed with the baby between them. The baby that was an orphan now. Because these people killed her parents. She hated these people just as much as she hated Negan. Maybe even more. Because they liked to pretend they were the heroes in all this. At least Negan was honest about what he was.

It didn't take long for her mother's breathing to turn slow and even. And that's when Rose slowly eased up off the couch and headed for the door. She grabbed a broom from outside the door, twisting the wooden handle until it unscrewed from the bristled head. Gripping it in her hands, she stuck to the shadows as she headed for the holding cell. She knew the guard had a key. Which seemed stupid. But it worked to her advantage when Rose snuck up on the man and clobbered him with the broomstick, knocking him to the ground and fishing the key from his pocket. She held her finger to her lips, signaling for the men inside the holding to keep quiet as she unlocked the gate.

Everyone stayed silent. Except one older man that she recognized from when they arrived outside the gates the first time. The man that used to run this place. He started yelling for help. Saying that the prisoners were about to escape.

"Shut him up," Rose hissed. That jerk was about to ruin everything. And get her caught. Two of her outpost friends grabbed the man. One punched him in the face and the other wrapped his arm around the man's throat, choking him until he stopped moving and then dropping his body in the dirt. Rose got the lock off and pulled at the chain, moving out of the way as the men inside pushed the door open. They started towards the main gate. But that was being guarded. Rose grabbed one of them and shook her head.

"There's another way out," she hissed. Ticking her head in the direction of the exit hatch Carl snuck them out of, she added, "...follow me."