Surviving. (Book Two.)

Chapter Forty One

Sarah;

Finally, after laying around some more, I finally got up to stop by Jessie's, gently knocking on the door.

It took a couple of minutes but she answered, giving me a sad smile as she let me in. 

"How are you?" I whispered, giving her a tight hug. Maybe that was a stupid question. 

"I'm okay," she mumbled, "I'm more worried about Sam." 

"And Ron?" 

She shook her head, "I don't know. He won't talk to me and anytime I try, he runs off. I-I think he blames me."

"No," I said, following her as she moved to sit on the stairs, "He's just upset. Probably angry too. Everyone deals with this sort of stuff differently."

"I guess," she nodded, "Listen, thanks for letting Sam keep Zeus overnight. I think he really helped him." 

I squeezed her hand, "Don't worry. He can stay here as long as Sam needs him. I'll get going. You know where to find me though." 

She called my name as I reached the door and I turned, "If you see Ron, will you try talking to him?" 

"Of course I will. Bye Jessie."

Outside, I let my head fall back against her front door before I started making my way to Deanna's house but when I saw Ron standing peering through some bushes, I took a detour. 

"Hey," I said quietly, so I didn't startle him, "What're you doing?" 

He ignored me, keeping his eyes on whatever he was staring at so naturally, I looked too. 

Tobin and Gabriel were in the process of burying the two we had lost last night and I reached out to rest my hand on his shoulder. 

He tenses the moment Rick comes into view and I could swear that I heard him growl. 

"What are you doing?" Rick asked, "You're not burying him here." 

Oh dear god, please stop talking. 

"We don't bury killers here." 

Rick, seriously. Stop. 

Tobin begins trying to explain but stops when Deanna walks out from behind the trees. 

"Rick's right," she said and I sigh quietly, "Take him a few miles out and bury him there. Let the trees have him for all I care." 

Having heard enough, Ron shrugs me from his shoulder and takes off, ignoring me when I shout after him. 

I tried to follow but he was too fast and I wasn't about to chase after him. I don't want to pressure him; he'll talk when he's ready. 

My eyes are then drawn to the surgery door, seeing Maggie come out followed slowly by Tara and my eyes light up and I make my way over to them. 

"You're awake!" I cry happily, gently throwing my arms around her neck, "You gave us all a scare." I then turned to Maggie, "You didn't come back to the meeting. Did you find Glenn?" 

"No," she said quietly, glancing at Tara, who somehow gets the hint and moves away so Maggie can talk to me, "Nicholas."

As soon as she said his name, she had my full attention, "What? What did he do?" 

"He lured Glenn out to the woods and tried to kill him." 

"What?!" I exclaimed, lowering my voice when she shushed me, "Are you serious? Holy shit." 

She nodded, "I don't know why." 

"Maggie?" Tara said quietly, "I'm still feeling a little woozy. I'll meet you back at the house." 

"No, no. I'm coming," she insisted but turned back to me, "Keep an eye out for him though. I don't know how far he'll go to try and get rid of us." 

"I will," I nodded, giving her hand a squeeze, "Don't worry." 

************

Jessie returned Zeus later that afternoon while I was laying on the sofa, nursing a niggling headache. 

She didn't stay long; she just gave me a cool washcloth and some painkillers before leaving me to wallow in my pain.

Daryl came back from Aaron's, slamming the door behind him which made me wince. 

"Could you not?" 

"Sarah?" he asked, his head appearing over the back of the sofa, "What're ye' doin'?"

"Headache," I mumbled, feeling his warm hand come to rest on my forehead, "Ye' ain't warm." 

"I know," I whispered, "It's not a fever type of thing. Just one of those headaches that will go away after a couple of hours. Maybe some slee-"

I stopped as the door flew open again, Rick calling for Daryl before appearing beside him, "We have a problem. A large one." 

"Wha' are ye' talkin' about?" Daryl asked as I sat up. 

"Deanna's house. Now." 

"Is she okay?" I called after him, watching as he left just as quickly as he came in then I looked up at Daryl, "We should follow him."

"Or ye' should stay 'ere if ye' ain't feelin' righ'." 

I shook my head and got off the sofa, "No. He sounded really worried. Besides, I've taken some painkillers and they'll kick in soon." 

"If yer sure," he murmured and I nodded, giving him a smile as I passed by to the door. 

When we were approaching Deanna's house, I saw that there were quite a few people in front of us. "Looks like everyone's here." 

"Looks like it," he hummed in agreement and we followed them, gathering in the living room. 

"What's this all about?" Tobin asked, "Some of us have work to do." 

Rick grabbed everyone's attention before explaining. "Today, when Morgan and I were..." he stopped, realising that Jessie was now standing in the room, "Outside of the walls, we came across a quarry. It's full of walkers. I don't know how many exactly but it's a lot. Now they're contained by trucks, but we don't know how long they're gonna hold."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Aaron asked quietly, "I'm assuming that you have a plan." 

Rick nodded, "I do. We're going to have to get them out."