CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
"Lines We Cross"
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Two walkers wash up on shore and Judith cuts one down while Roslyn uses her silenced weapon and shoots the other one before re-joining Michonne, Jane, Daryl, and the others in a combat training exercise on the Oceanside beach. Aaron leads a shield-wielding front line to a washed-up boat where Jerry and Ezekiel repeatedly open the hatch to let walkers out in waves. In an organized effort, the archers take out the first wave, the spear-wielders the second, and the melee weapons third, which is Jane's group. The walkers quickly break down the door, "Get ready!" Jane shouts as the walkers scatter out.
When a couple walkers get close to Jane she swings the axe of her Halberd and kills them all one by one. "Ah!" Jane grunts as she kicks a walker down and Magna uses her weapon to smash its head in.
The walkers get close to the army and the shields in the front line leave an opening and Roslyn tosses her knife up at one of the walkers head, killing it
instantly and soon the army finishes them off.
Later on, the group prepares some materials at the Oceanside settlement. While Jane was bringing over a bucket of fish Silas ran over to her taking it out of her hands. "Why thank you" Jane says as she wipes her wet hands on her jeans. "Looked like you could use the help" Silas says and Jane furrows her eyebrows, "You think I can't carry things by myself?" Jane asks and Silas shakes his head frantically and stammers over his words.
"No— No— I meant. I just meant—" Silas stops as he sees the large smile spread across Jane's face. "You're joking. Aren't you?" Silas asks and Jane chuckles nodding her head. "Yeah, I'm joking" Jane says before she shakes her head in laughter and leaves Silas to carry the bucket of fish back to be skinned so they'll be cooked.
Michonne and Daryl laud the results of their training sessions. Nearby, Judith, Roslyn and R.J. play with some shells that R.J. found. As they dump out their seashells in the sand, a Whisperer mask falls out.
SKIN
Aaron radios Gabriel at Alexandria to warn him about the mask, suggesting they go on lockdown. Michonne instead advises they stay vigilant while they split up and look for more signs of the Whisperers. "I agree, we only seen a mask. No person" Jane states as she stands up against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. The group hasn't seen or heard of the whisperers for a while now but they have always been on alert just in case. Everyone was starting to get used to not having them around. This could cause chaos and that is not what Hilltop or any other community needs right now.
Jane rides on her horse along with Michonne, Aaron, Silas, Ivy and other people that they brought along so everyone could spilt up. Jane and Ivy rode with Aaron and Michonne while Silas rode with Yumiko, Magna, and Luke. Jane sees a walker ahead and kills it as she rides past.
"You think there back?" Ivy asks as she looks around while controlling her horse. "I don't know. I hope not" Jane answers as her and Ivy ride behind Michonne and Aaron. "We don't need this right now. Things have been good" Jane says before wiping the walker blood off of her knife and slipping it back into boot.
"They have" Ivy says and then the two leave things silent and look at each other every now and then which starts to make things more awkward. "We haven't really talked ever since— Um—". "I know" Ivy interrupts knowing she's talking about Willow and what Ivy did. "I haven't forgot, I just don't know what to say. You did a big thing. I mean— she was your sister" Jane states and clears her throat as she begins to think of Joslyn.
"She was going to kill you and she would've ruined all that you built just for Sydney" Ivy states and Jane looks over at Ivy who looks around the woods in acceptance and sadness. "I'm not sad I killed her. I'm sad it took me that long to do it" Ivy states and Jane locks eyes with Ivy. Maybe Willow was worse than Jane thought. Suddenly, Aaron spots walkers on a bridge and rushes in to kill them.
"Shit" Jane mumbles and her, Michonne, and Ivy rush in on their horses to follow Aaron. When they arrive on the bridge, Jane quickly jumps down from her horse while Aaron kills some walkers by himself. "Watch their hands!" Michonne shouts as she gets off of her horse. Jane kills two walkers with the spear of her Halberd and smashes another walkers head in against the edge of the bridge while Ivy comes in and throws knives.
"Aaron, are you serious?" Jane asks as she throws her arms up in the air. "We agreed not to cross their borders or to start anything without a reason. I lost Rick on a—" Michonne stops and Jane looks down at the ground as she shakes her head.
"Aaron— If they were whisperers, you could've died. No— you would've" Jane argues as she looks to Aaron. "And it wasn't them and you still could've died!" Michonne shouts as she looks to Aaron with disappointment. "We've all been acting like this is normal. Holding our breaths for months. This isn't normal" Aaron argues and Jane scoffs looking away from him.
"I agree. We shouldn't live with things that we're not okay with" Ivy says, siding with Aaron. "That mask showed up for a reason. I don't think there gone and you shouldn't either" Ivy states and Jane looks over to Michonne who sighs defeatedly.
"You know we're right" Aaron states. "We have to keep our cool, or they win" Michonne declares and Jane nods her head in agreement. "I've been keeping my cool my whole life. I've always been the nice guy. But the thing is... Eric is dead. Jesus is dead. And I'm goddam sick of being nice" Aaron argues and pushes past Jane and Michonne and walks back to his horse.
"You don't have to keep reminding us what we already know!" Jane shouts as Aaron waves her off. "Being nice never got anyone anywhere! We know that. But Aaron— It's not about being nice or good. We have to keep our people alive because we put ourselves in that position. Breaking the agreement is not going to do that and I am not losing anymore people because you don't wanna play 'nice' anymore" Jane argues as she walks up to Aaron and stands in-front of him.
"We should get back before dark" Aaron states as he backs away from Jane and walks towards his horse. Michonne then radios everyone to circle back but Yumiko tells her they have found something. In the woods, they catch up with her and find an abandoned campsite full of corpses and a walker skin. "It's a campsite. Couple people. What am I missing?" Michonne asks as Jane looks around.
"This is not what we wanted to show you" Magna says as she walks up beside Jane and looks between her and Michonne. "This way" Magna says and Jane furrows her eyebrows and follows behind Magna along with the rest of the group. Luke theorizes that the campers must have defended themselves against the undead, while Alden suggests maybe the corpses aren't connected.
Magna stops in-front of a dead body that has flies around it and Jane cringes at the sight. "Looks like he's been here for a while" Michonne points out and Jane locks eyes with Magna before Magna turns around and continues walking.
Magna stops in front of a log and bends down in front of it. Jane places a hand on Magna's shoulder as she bends down also and notices the skin lying perfectly on the branch, making Janes stomach turn a bit as Aaron lifted the skin up with a stick. "At least one of them has been on our side of the border at some point" Aaron declares and Jane looks over to Magna who sighs tiredly.
"When though? And what the hell happened here?" Yumiko asks as she looks around at the deserted campsite.
Jane and the rest of the group arrive back at Oceanside on their horses and ride in one by one. Jane ties her horse up and begins walking with Magna. "Crazy, right?" Magna asks and Jane sighs as she looks around at Oceanside and nods her head. "Very. I think I starting to think this was normal" Jane says, referring to what Aaron had said earlier and she begins to think that he is right and Ivy. No one should live with what they're not okay with. Not something like this.
"How do you think Hilltop with take this?" Magna asks and Jane shrugs her shoulders. "I'm afraid it could drive us apart... again" Jane answers honestly and shakes her head not wanting to go through that rough patch yet again.
"I think a good leader like you can keep us together and sane" Magna says causing Jane to smile. "I hope so" Jane replies as she locks eyes with Magna and her breath is just taken away at the site and Jane has been feeling like this for awhile but Jane couldn't go through another heartbreak. Maybe loving someone just isn't for her. Not everyone can move on, maybe that's Jane...
"Are you okay?" Magna asks and Jane is immediately taken out of her thoughts and remembers where she is. "Yeah, sorry just— thinking" Jane trails off as she looks into Magna's eyes. "Thinking, huh? I was starting to think you were falling for me" Magna jokes and Jane laughs and punches Magna's arm jokingly but it just seemed to turn everything more awkward.
"I'll see you around, Jane" Magna says as she reassuringly rubs Jane's shoulder and walks away. "What the hell" Jane mumbles to herself as she scratches her forehead. "Do you like her?" Roslyn asks as Jane turns around seeing Roslyn right behind her.
"I've seen you with Magna a lot" Roslyn says and Jane clears her throat and looks over at Magna then back down at Roslyn. "Is that a bad thing?" Jane asks and Roslyn shrugs her shoulders and shakes her head. "No, Magna's nice" Roslyn asks and Jane smiles slightly and bends down to Roslyn's level and looks into her eyes. "She is" Jane repeats.
Suddenly, an explosion rings out and everyone looks up to witness streaks of fire cascading from the sky. "Mommy, what's that?" Roslyn asks and Jane stands to her feet and holds Roslyn's hand. "I don't know" Jane says as she looks down at Roslyn. "Go with the other kids, okay?" Jane says and Roslyn nods her head. "Here. I got her" Jerry says and Roslyn runs with Jerry who gathers his kids and the others to safe place.
LINES WE CROSS
"Jane— Jane!" Magna calls out and grabs Janes arm, stopping her. "This is crazy. We can't do this" Magna states and Jane shrugs her shoulders. "We have no choice. We can't let Oceanside burn down" Jane states. "If we get caught on their side of the border, that's it, that's war. You don't want that, do you?" Magna argues and Jane sighs as she looks around at everyone heading straight for the explosion.
"I don't want a war but this fire could burn everything. Our hunting grounds, Oceansides home, and I can't have that!" Jane shouts and Magna shakes her head as Jane starts to back away. "Jane, you can't be serious" Magna says and Jane shrugs her shoulders. "But I am" Jane argues and everyone convenes and agrees to cross Alpha's border to put out the fire and avoid it burning down Oceanside.
They discover the remains of the satellite and start combating the fire. Some use water while others dig a means to prevent the fire from spreading until the morning arrives. Jane throws buckets of water onto the fire and coughs as smoke surrounds her. "I'm out!" Jane shouts as there is no more water in her pouch. Soon, the whole group runs out of water as a herd of walkers approaches the group. With their backs to the fire, the group prepares for a fight.
"Jane, come on!" Silas calls out as he grabs Jane's hand helping her through all of the smoke. Jane breathes heavily as she tosses her pouch of empty water on the ground and pulls out her knives and makes her way towards the walkers.
EMBERS
The group takes their formations and start fighting off the herd. "Ah!" Jane grunts as she pushes a walker up against a tree and stabs into the head, killing it. A walker starts to get to close and Jane kicks it away and Silas swings his axe, slamming it into the walkers head and kicks it to the ground. Jane nods her head thankfully Silas's way before going back and fighting off the herd.
Several residents of Alexandria arrive to help. Carol uses the spilling blood of a walker to put out a fire. Daryl tosses an axe to cut a tree down and have it fall onto some walkers.
Later, the fire has been put out and everyone recovers. Jane sat down on a large rock, trying to catch her breath after a long fight. Magna came over and sat next to Jane. "Are you okay?" Magna asks and Jane scoffs, "I just spent all day and night putting out a fire and killing walkers. I'm tired" Jane says and Magna clears her throat at Janes sudden attitude and stands to her feet ready to walk away.
"Wait— Wait" Jane calls out, grabbing Magna's arm and stopping her. "I'm sorry, okay? I am just really tired" Jane says and Magna grabs Jane's hand, helping her stand to her feet.
"Still think we should've crossed that border?" Magna asks and Jane narrows her eyes at Magna. "Ask me later" Jane says making Magna laugh a bit.
WORD COUNT: 2380