succumb - glenn rhee

[TWENTY] peaches

CHAPTER TWENTY //  PEACHES
"YOU'RE TURNING INTO CARL.
IT'S MY WORST NIGHTMARE.
HE NEVER LISTENS TO ANYONE."

ִֶָ 𓂃⊹ ִֶָ

"We've got to get the hell out of here." Jade spoke, she dropped the blanket, grabbed Glenn by the hand, and pulled him towards where they had come in.

Maggie soon appeared at the doorway, a stern expression on her face and her hands clenched into fists. "You were not supposed to see this." The brunette said harshly.

"What the hell is this? Why the fuck do you have walkers in a barn, Maggie?" Jade asked, anger present in her voice.

"I really wish you would quit calling them that." Maggie spat.

"Alright. What would you like to call them?" Glenn questioned, his hand tightly wrapped around Jades.

"Mom, Shawn." She remarked, with a shake of her head, ushering them towards the ladder.

"Oh, hell no. I'm am not going anywhere until you tell me why you have a barn full of those things." The Horvath ordered, not noticing her brother standing just at the bottom of the ladder.

"Those 'things' they're my family. My friends. My daddy believes we'll find a cure." She started. "So, we're keeping them safe. Fed."

"You're feeding those things?" Jade exclaimed.

"They are our family. There is still a chance!" Maggie argued.

"They are killers! They're not alive anymore Maggie. They're monsters." Jade stated, her eyes stuck on Maggie's. "We've been to the CDC. It's gone. There are kids here, Maggie. You do understand how dangerous this is right?"

"There's still got to be hope. Now, please don't tell anyone about what you saw." Maggie pleaded.

"Are you kidding me?" Glenn exclaimed.

"You expect me to act as if everything's normal? My niece sleeps no more than 100 feet away. Are you serious?" Jade said, her temper rising more than it already was. Her blood was boiling at what Maggie had asked of them.

"If you tell, my daddy will kick you all out of here. No question about it." Maggie explained. "And I don't want that."

"You're out of your goddamn mind." Jade scolded, moving forward and climbing down the ladder.

"Jade, you've got to listen to her." Nick remarked, following after his sisters quick steps.

"No, do you not understand that Theodora, your daughter, is asleep with those things so close to her?" Jade questioned, her eyebrows furrowed together.

"Of course I know that. The barn is secure. More secure than the walkers we'd face if we got kicked out of here. This place is good, it's safe, Jade. It's safe for Theodora, Dad, the group." Nick continued.

"This is insane." Jade spoke, looking down at the ground. "I just... I just need a little while." She finished, continuing to walk away with a huff.

Jade's mind wouldn't turn off the whole night. Her thoughts were running wild inside her mind, unable to calm down to get even a small amount of sleep. She kept replaying the events from that night as she thought things over. The girl thought of every possible out come of what could happen, and somehow none of it seemed safe.

The next morning, Jade stood by a tree, her eyes trained onto the barn she had been in the night before. The many scenarios she had created the night before still flowed through her mind, plaguing her thoughts. She hadn't eaten breakfast or even drank anything since she woke up. Her left hand ran over the top of her scar as she pondered what to do.

Her gaze remained trained onto the the barn as footsteps approached behind her before a soft thump. "Could you be more obvious?" Maggie questioned angrily.

"There's a barn full of walkers, do you expect me to act like everything's normal?" Jade questioned, glancing down to the basket Maggie had placed on the ground. "Are you trying to buy my silence with fruit?"

"Well, Nick said it was your favorite. And no, there's also jerky." Maggie muttered.  "I just need you to stay quiet. Nick and Glenn both agreed."

"Well, they both suck ass at secrets. So good luck with that." Jade remarked, a small smirk present on her lips. "It's creepy and weird as hell that you've got a barn of walkers. You do understand that, right?"

"Would you just trust me?"

"Maggie, look you're super nice, and your family is awesome for letting us stay here. But I've known you for about 3 days. Sure, you're boning my brother, but that doesn't mean I trust you." Jade remarked.

"Just, please, Jade. I need you to stay quiet. I don't want you all to leave." Maggie explained. "I'm falling for your brother, and I can truly see us being friends. So, please." She finished before turning and walking away, leaving Jade alone with her thoughts.

With a sigh, Jade bent down, grabbing one of the peaches from the basket. As she looked back up, she could see Nick standing no more than 3 feet away from her.

"Maggie is already guilt tripping me, not you too." Jade pleaded, leaning her head back with a sigh.

"No, no, I'm not. Well, maybe a little." He admitted.

"Oh, come on. Seriously?" Jade questioned.

"Look, the barn is secure. Glenn and I checked after you stormed off last night." Nick described.

"Okay, I had perfectly good reason to 'storm off'. They are storing walkers in their barn, and feeding them." Jade exclaimed.

"Would you be quiet?" Nick ordered, running a hand over his hair. "Look, you've got to stay calm about this. They just still see the walkers as people. I'm sure others do as well. The Greene's haven't been through what we have. They haven't seen what's out there."

"That doesn't give enough reason for them not to tell us about what is in that barn." She argued.

"It's their land, their home. They decide what to do with it." Nick continued.

"I understand that, I really do. But when I saw all those walkers, standing there, in what I thought was the safest place we could be, do you know how terrified I was?" Jade asked, biting down on her bottom lip. "I thought these were crazy people, who were going to feed us to the walkers, and everyone I cared about was going to die."

"I didn't get the accommodation of hearing it from my girlfriend. So, it's hard to adjust. My apologies." Jade finished with a nod of her head, putting the peach in her pocket before walking off.

She walked into the RV, ignoring Nick's stare that was burning holes into her back. "Hi, Aunt Jade." Theodora spoke from her seat at the table, reading one of the smaller books they had stored in the RV.

"Woah, that's a big book there, Teddy Bear." Jade commented with a light laugh, her mindset completely changing after she saw Theodora.

"I'm not five anymore, Aunt Jade. I'm growing up, I can read this." The young girl said, a determined expression plastered on her face.

"Oh no."

"What? Is something wrong?" Theodora questioned.

"You're turning into Carl. It's my worst nightmare. He never listens to anyone." The older Horvath joked. "Oh, please don't turn out like him." She pleaded, moving forward to lean her head on Theodora's shoulder in fake tears.

"I won't! I won't! I won't, okay?" Theodora giggled, pushing the older brunette off of her. "But, Carl's not that bad." She whispered.

"What? Oh my, God. Do you have a crush?" Jade teased.

"No! Ew... he's just a good friend. And with Sophia, I don't know if he'll be here for long." She muttered, her tone sad.

"Oh, honey." Jade whispered, pulling her niece into a hug. "We're going to find her. I promise."

xx
word count: 1302