Tomorrow Will Come

Thirty

"I thought you'd died." Mary sobbed as she took Jennie into her arms, after Toby had held her tightly.
"Me? Never." Jennie laughed softly, her voice still filled with anxiety.
"How? How did you get away?" Toby questioned, and a teasing smile, Jennie showed them her arms.
"Everyone always said having my forearm amputated would put me in a disadvantage in this world. But when you get captured they... They tie your hands. I only have one. They didn't know what to do. That hesitation saved me."
"Jen." Toby smiled, almost tearful, but Jennie wasn't done.
"They tied me to her. They tied me to... To Enid. One arm each, bound together. Because, you know, it's not like I've not learnt how to do everything one handed. Fucking idiots. She... Enid saved me. She got us free, saw an opening, and she covered me. She knew it could only be one of us. So I got out, so I could get them out. But I couldn't. I didn't get them out in time. I saw the... Spikes. Their... That they were, they w-were g-g-gone. So I r-ran home." Jennie whimpered, as Mary hugged her tightly, holding her, kissing the side of her head.
"It's not on you. It's not your fault."
"If I'd ran quicker.... Got help quicker..."
"No," Michonne corrected, "you couldn't. You couldn't have saved them, Jen. You couldn't have saved them. It's not on you."
"I should have, should have run quicker. Should have run quicker." Jennie cried, ignoring all comments, the images playing in her mind. Enid. Henry. Tara. Rodney. Addy. Frankie. Tammy Rose. DJ. Ozzy. Alek.

"Uncle Sid?" Mary half whispered, walking into the hospital bed, "Uncle Sid. Are you... Are you okay?"
"No." The man whimpered, looking at her with wild, fearful eyes, "no. Not okay."
"Can I give you a hug?" Mary asked shakily, and Siddiq nodded, his eyes still full of fear, of anger. She walked over, and laid in the bed, next to Siddiq, and she held him. She held him tightly, like her own father used to do to her when she had a nightmare, and Siddiq fell into her, clinging to the girl and sobbing as the events from the night before replayed again and again in his mind, torturing him, plaguing him mind, never leaving.
"Why did they let me go?" Siddiq whimpered, and Mary held him a little tighter.
"They're evil, Siddiq. Pure evil."
"How... How do I raise a baby in this world? In a world where they lure... Lure innocents away from a fair. Doctors, kids, leaders. How do I raise a baby in this?"
"With love. By showing them right and wrong. By giving them role models and care and stuffed bunnies and lemon sherbets.  By risking your life for them, so they can do the same for you. By surviving. You can do it, Siddiq. You and Rosita aren't going anywhere. And neither am I."

"People want to hear." Michonne assured Siddiq, and the man nodded, sitting up and drinking some water.
"Well then I guess we're telling my story. Our story."
"I'll stand with you." Jennie promised, and Siddiq smiled at her and nodded, taking her hand.
"Together."

"I was there. I was taken with the others, and Jennie.  And I saw... I was supposed to die with them. I was ready to. Then Alpha whispered in my ear, "tell them". Something hit me and everything went black. And when I woke up I was alone. What happened was evil, and I think she left me alive to tell you that story. To scare you and to drive us all apart again.  But I want to tell you a different story. See, before the end, Ozzy, Alek, DJ found us and they gave us an opening. And everyone fought back. They fought like hell. And what they did was more than brave 'cos they defended for each other and they sacrificed for each other, and some of them they didn't even know each other, but they still fought like they did. Like they were family. Till the very end. Enid did everything to get Jennie free, and that saved her life. It saved Jen. And, uh, and in the end they their time was cut short, but ours keeps going. So we have to keep going. For them, and for all of us. We need to honour them. We need to honour them, and we need to remember them these friends, our family died as heroes. That's the story that I want to tell you. That's the story that I want us all the remember."