Between the Thorns

Chapter 51

With a baby in tow, the hike back to Alexandria took a long time. They had to stop and sleep the night in an abandoned car. Jean's back was sore from the cramped space and from lugging Gracie through the woods. She was grateful that Rose and Carl were able to take turns helping her carry the little girl. Because even with the sling that Jean rigged up using the girl's baby blanket, she was still heavier than she looked.

What kept them moving even when their energy reserves were depleted was the promise of a safe space once they finally arrived at Carl's home. Jean didn't even realize until they were already on their way, that they were heading for Daryl's home as well. Since he sent her to Hilltop, Jean naturally assumed that was where Daryl was from. The only time she'd been outside the Sanctuary in the last year was when Daryl took her to Gavin's outpost. She had no idea there were even this many autonomous communities in the area. And she thought it was sad that they were all at war, instead of helping each other through these dark times.

The residents of Alexandria were more welcoming than Hilltop's farmers had been. Whether that was because they were Daryl's actual family, or because they weren't housing a bunch of her former companions in a cage, Jean wasn't sure. But she was grateful to Michonne when the woman took Gracie into the kitchen with her daughters so she could collapse onto the couch. Her lower back was on fire and her feet were sore and swollen. And she was worried about Daryl and what he was going to think when he discovered that they fled Hilltop after Rose slipped one of their prisoners a knife.

"Thank you," Jean said, taking the large glass of ice water Michonne brought out for her and trying to force herself to take it slow and not make herself sick gulping it down as fast as she wanted to.

"Daryl was here yesterday," Michonne said. "Looking for you. He and Rick went back out. I'm sure they'll be back sometime today."

Jean nodded, thanking the woman again for the water and the hospitality and for the information. She felt bad that Daryl was risking his life to search for her and the girls. But at the same time, it made her feel good. There was a little part of her that was worried about what would become of their relationship once they were out of the Sanctuary and Daryl was no longer mandated to be her husband. She felt like his feelings for her were sincere. But in all fairness, she hadn't really known him all that long in the grand scheme of things. And the way their relationship began was far from conventional.

Michonne took the empty glass back to the kitchen, returning with more water. But this time, instead of standing there while Jean drank it, she sat down on the couch next to her. Jean saw the curious expectant look the woman was giving her. It wasn't totally unexpected. Daryl was this woman's friend. And from Maggie's reaction, Jean figured out that none of them had ever seen him with a woman before. It was only natural for them to be curious about her.

"So you and Daryl are …together?," Michonne finally asked. Jean nodded. She wasn't really sure how much she ought to tell this woman. Michonne was being nice. But she was also still a total stranger.

"My husband was killed," Jean said, taking another sip of water to swallow down the inevitable lump that she knew would form in her throat when she started talking about John. Jean lowered her voice, speaking so quietly that Michonne had to lean in to hear her. "He was stationed at the satellite outpost your group raided." MIchonne's eyes widened. And she looked from Jean to the kitchen doorway, realizing that she was part of the group responsible for killing this woman's husband and the father of the girls that were eating soup at her kitchen table with Carl. "My girls don't know that Daryl had anything to do with that," she added. "Please don't say anything." Michonne was quick to nod her head. She had no desire to tell two young girls that she might have stabbed their father through the head while he slept. Or gunned him down. For a cow and a few crates of fresh vegetables.

"Negan offered to make me one of his wives," Jean said, continuing with her story. "When I said no, he made me take Daryl in as punishment. I guess it didn't turn out the way he expected…" Jean took another gulp of water. She hoped that was enough of an explanation to satisfy Michonne. Because she wasn't sure if she wanted to get into the rest of it. She didn't want to talk about Rose being attacked. Or how Negan used her and the girls to force Daryl into working for him. Or about how Rose was Daryl's actual niece. Because his brother raped her in a dive bar parking lot. That was a little too much for someone Jean met a half hour ago.

"But you like him?," Michonne asked. "I mean… Daryl? You want to be with him?"

Jean nodded, relieved to know that Michonne's main concern seemed to be Daryl's feelings. She was glad he had a good friend that cared for him. Because the last guy Jean met seemed like an asshole. But since he was murdering Gracie's father at the time, she supposed she might be slightly biased.

The afternoon passed by in relative calm. And just when Rose was thinking that her mother finally found them a safe place to stay, there was a loud explosion outside. She grabbed for her bow, rushing out onto the porch. The smell of smoke and gunpowder hung heavy in the air. And an unfamiliar man rushed by, screaming that the town was under attack. Negan and his soldiers must have escaped the Sanctuary. When Rose and her family left Hilltop to come home with Carl, they'd jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.

From what Rose could see, the residents of this community did seem to have some sort of plan in place for what to do in this situation. Because they all seemed to be rushing in the same direction.

"I've got an idea," Carl said, grabbing Rose's sleeve and tugging her towards the porch steps. "We need to buy some time so everyone can get down into the sewers."

Rose cringed at the idea of hiding in a sewer. But anything was better than being caught or killed. She lived at the Sanctuary long enough to know that anyone who was caught running away was dealt with severely. She didn't think Negan would hurt her or her sister. But her mother would certainly face some grim punishment. The sound the iron made when Negan brought it down against the side of Dwight's face was permanently ingrained in her mind. Rose paused on the steps. Her mother was still inside the house. But Lily was hovering in the open doorway.

"Get mom to safety. I'll be there soon," Rose instructed. Lily's eyes widened. But she nodded her head before she rushed back into the house.

Carl reached back, gripping Rose's hand as he rushed through the streets. It felt strange rushing towards possible danger instead of away from it. She wasn't sure which side of the battle was lighting them. But there were smoke grenades everywhere, making it hard to see more than a few feet ahead. When they hit the ladder, Carl let Rose climb up first. So he could spot her from the ground and make sure she didn't falter as her sweaty palms gripped the rungs. She crawled across the platform, peeking out between the large metal fencing panels at the entire army that was positioned outside the gates. She didn't stand up until after Carl revealed himself.

"He's not here," Carl announced, directing his words to Negan, who was calling for Rick to show himself. Negan lifted the microphone towards his mouth, pausing in obvious shock when he saw Rose take up position next to Carl on the platform. His men didn't lower their guns. But she noticed a few of them exchanged concerned glances. They didn't like the idea of possibly having to shoot her. A lot of them were her father's friends.

"Why are you doing this?," Rose asked. "There's kids in here. My little sister. Carl's little sister. They never hurt anyone."

"There's kids at the Sanctuary too," Negan argued. "There was a little baby at the outpost these people shot up. What do you think happened to her?"

"She's here too," Rose countered. "My mom has her." Like her sudden appearance, Negan didn't seem to have an immediate response to the information Rose provided. It was one of his soldiers that risked that man's wrath and spoke up.

"This isn't a game Rose," the man said. "Get down here and get in the truck before you get hurt." Negan turned, obviously surprised that anyone other than himself was speaking. But since he liked where the conversation was going, he didn't issue any reprimand.

"That's right," Negan agreed, a wicked smile crossing his face. "Go get your mom and your sister and the little outpost baby. Hell, you can bring Carl's little sister out here too. You can sit in the truck and we'll make sure you're safe while this whole thing goes down."

Rose rolled her eyes. She wasn't stupid. Negan didn't care about keeping her safe. He just wanted to use her as leverage. Just like he'd been doing with her mom ever since her father died. Everyone here, including the soldiers at his side, were nothing but pawns in his chess game. And Negan would sacrifice every last one of them to become king.

"No one's coming out there," Carl hollered. "If you wanna kill someone, then you can start with me."

Rose gasped, moving closer and gripping Carl's hand with hers. They waited, watching to see what Negan's next move would be. But before he could say anything, a ground shaking crash knocked them down onto the platform.

"Time to go," Carl hissed, swinging his legs and scrambling down the ladder.

The moment Rose's feet hit the pavement, the men outside began firing. Bombs dropped and the streets filled with smoke. She ran, her legs pumping and her long braids of hair swinging in time with her movements. Carl slid to the ground like he was stealing third base. The manhole was left slightly open for them. And like he had on the platform ladder, Carl sent Rose down first, quickly following her after he settled the metal cover into place behind them.

It was dark and damp. But not as bad as Rose would have imagined the insides of a sewer pipe to be. Walking on the rounded surface was slightly awkward. And she found herself using her hands to keep her body from tipping to one side or the other. Her sister spotted her first, scrambling towards her and wrapping her arms around Rose's waist.

"Don't you ever do anything like that again," her mother warned, crushing both of them against her chest.

They sat on the uncomfortably curved floor of the large cement pipe, huddled together for comfort as they listened to the town being destroyed above them. Bombs and gunfire could be heard mingled in with the vibration of the large armored trucks passing by above their heads. Occasionally, something would explode close enough to them that it would rattle the pipe and send cement dust drifting down on top of their heads. Jean tossed a blanket over her shoulder, tenting it over Gracie's head to protect the baby from breathing in the foul dust and coughing on it. People glanced nervously at each other, knowing that their hiding place had distinct disadvantages. The first being that if they were discovered by Negan's men, there was nowhere to go. They would all be killed or captured. The second was the one that no one wanted to speak aloud. If there was a large enough blast close enough to where they were, the tunnel might cave in and they would all be buried alive.

Slowly, the sound of the battle began to recede. The blasting stopped. And people glanced up hopefully as the tunnel rattled with the sound of the trucks driving back over them in the direction they came from.

"Is it over?," Lily asked, finally releasing the death grip she had on her mother's arm.

"I'm gonna go check," Carl said, pushing himself up onto his feet. Jean voiced a meek objection as Rose climbed to her feet and followed after the boy.

"It's okay, mom. I'll be careful," she promised. Jean adjusted the baby in her lap as she watched her oldest daughter disappear into the dark depths of the tunnel. She listened, not hearing anything at first other than the sound of her own breath and the soft shuffling sounds of the people around her. It wasn't until she heard Rose cry out that she shifted Gracie onto Lily's lap and took off down the tunnel in the direction Rose went.

A dim stream of light was shining in through the manhole cover, coming from the few remaining street lights that weren't destroyed in the attack. And at first, Jean couldn't believe her eyes. What she thought was a cry of distress from her daughter was actually a yip of excitement. Because she was standing at the bottom of the dingy metal ladder with her arms wrapped around Daryl.

"Daryl?," Jean said, trying to confirm that what she was seeing was indeed real.

Daryl popped his head up, releasing Rose as he darted in her direction. Jean felt the clash of his body against hers. The sheer force would have knocked her off her feet if he hadn't grabbed her up into his arms. His mouth collided with hers as violently as his body, and she cringed at the brief metallic feeling gnash of his teeth against hers. But then they were kissing. And kissing. When Daryl finally came up for air, he spoke in a desperate whispered hush.

"When I couldn't find ya I was so fuckin' scared," he admitted. Jean pushed his hair back from his face.

"We're safe," she soothed. "I was worried about you too."