CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
"The Good In People"
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The rest of the dynamite immediately explodes and the cave implodes, trapping Magna and Connie inside.
"No, no no. No!" Jane screams as she drops to her knees and tears immediately slide down her face. "Magna! N-No!" Jane sobs as Aaron walks over to Jane holds close as tears stain her face in agony.
That moment replayed in Janes head over and over again as she sat in her office staring down at the ground where her and Magna shared their first kiss. Jane tapped her fingers on the wooden desk in front of her wanting time to go by faster so she could finally go out and lead this community like she has to do. But with losing Glenn... losing Rick and now losing Magna , Jane begins to think she's cursed like everyone she's ever loved is bound to leave or die somehow and someway.
The only person Jane has let even step foot in her office is Ashton and Roslyn because she feels like they are the only two people who are forced not to leave her.
"Jane!" Alden called out from outside and Jane clears her throat looking out the window towards the lookout post Alden and Earl are on, constructing defenses on the Hilltop's walls. Jane notices someone riding up towards Hilltop but she can't get a good look on who it is so she finds the courage to go outside and face her community because after all she is a leader.
Jane climbs up on the lookout post and grabs the binoculars from Alden and looks out into the distance and realizes that it's Alexandrians like Aaron, RJ and Judith riding up. But as Jane continues to look over everyone in the wagon she sees a women she has never seen before.
"Who's that women?" Jane asks as she pulls the binoculars away from her eyes and looks over to Alden and Earl who both shrug their shoulders. "Not a clue, boss. Never seen her before" Alden informs and Jane scoffs as she looks through the binoculars yet again. "They take in another stray?" Jane questions as Aaron and the rest of his people ride up.
"Open the gates" Jane orders and the people on lookout open the gates for Aaron to pass through. Jane, Alden and Earl climb down from their post and meet up with Aaron in the middle of Hilltop. "Hey, how you doing?" Aaron asks as he pulls Jane in for a hug which she hesitantly gives back. "I'm fine" Jane says as Aaron slowly and awkwardly pulls away from the hug.
"Auntie Jane!" RJ calls out as him and Judith run towards Jane giving her a hug. "Hey!" Jane cheers, putting a smile for the kids. "You've gotten so big" Jane says as she takes a look at RJ and sees Gracie peak around the horses. "Gracie?" Jane asks as she looks to Aaron who smiles and nods.
"What are they playing?" RJ asks as he points to Ashton and Roslyn in the distance. Jane tilts her head and looks at Ashton and Roslyn who have tennis rackets but it doesn't look like they're playing tennis. "Tennis? Volleyball? Uh... I don't know, go check it out" Jane urges and Gracie, RJ and Judith quickly run over to play with both Ashton and Roslyn.
Jane lets out a stressful sigh as she has had to put on the same fake smile for quite awhile today. "Everything's gonna be okay" Aaron mumbles as he places a reassuring hand on Janes shoulder while Jane looks over at Silas in the distance who's just now leaving his trailer and when he got Janes stare he immediately looked away, shutting the door of his trailer and walking away. "Yeah, okay..." Jane trails off as she turns her body around and notices the mysterious woman that has joined Aaron on his trip.
"Who's that?" Jane asks as she shields her eyes from the sun. "Yeah, care to elaborate?" Earl questions as he walks over, wiping his dirty hands with a cloth as he listens in on what Aaron has to say. "It's Mary. She, uh, ran away from Alpha's camp. She's been helping us out" Aaron claims and Jane shakes her head as soon as she hears the name Alpha.
"Get her out. Why the hell is she even here?" Jane asks as she motions towards Mary, not caring to offend her. "Hey nephew is, uh, Adam. She wants to see him" Aaron states and immediately looks over to Earl who disagrees and starts to walk away. "Wait, can we at least talk about this?" Aaron asks, grabbing Earls attention.
"There's nothing to talk about" Jane argues quietly. "I agree. You said you were going to bring people who wanted to see Alex, not one of our enemies that wants to see my son" Earl defends and Aaron shakes his head. "She's not an enemy". "You don't know that! Stop trying to see the good in everyone!" Jane shouts and Aaron scoffs as he narrows his eyes towards Jane.
"I saw the good in you. I saw the good in Rick. I saw the good in Carl. I saw the good in Glenn. I saw the good in Maggie. I saw the good in all of you and you all turned out alright. Why is it different with her?" Aaron questions pointing to Mary. "Who runs this place? Who sits in that office reading requests from these people? Who brought this place up?" Jane asks looking to Aaron. "Me and Maggie, that's who. We brought this place from the ground up so if I don't her want her in my community, she won't be in it" Jane states harshly, stepping towards Aaron confidently.
"All this anger... for Magna?" Aaron asks and Janes breathing picks up at the sound of her name and Jane just walks off. She walks off back towards the Barrington house. Back into her office.
Hours later, Luke, Kelly, and Luke sit on the steps of the Barrington house about to go out on a search party to find Magna and Connie and Jane has made it very clear she doesn't want to go. Kelly wishes to join Luke's search party in an attempt to rescue her sister, while Luke cautions her against it, as her ankle is injured. Yumiko asks Kelly about Magna's last words to her, but the latter thinks them unimportant, since she believes they will rescue their friends. Annoyed at Yumiko's questioning, Kelly asks why she is coming with them if she thinks Magna and Connie are dead. They are interrupted by Daryl and Lydia's arrival...
"Jane, open the door" Daryl says as he knocks on the door twice. "Just come in" Jane calls out as she sits in her chair looking out the same window she's been looking out of for hours making sure everything in Hilltop. Daryl enters Janes office slowly and grabs a chair, taking a seat next to her. Jane notices Daryl winces due to pain in his leg.
"What happened?" Jane asks as she turns her attention to Daryl. "Stuff" Daryl mumbles, shrugging off his problems. "I gotta tell you something" Daryl says breaking the silence between the two of them and trying to start up a new conversation. "What is it?" Jane asks, not a clue on what it is.
"Alphas coming" Daryl answers and Jane furrows her eyebrows and immediately looks to Daryl.
Jane gathers a lot of members of Hilltop including Ivy, Ashton, Silas and more while Roslyn and the other kids train outside. Yumiko instructs Felix and Penny to radio them as soon as they see the Whisperers approaching. She then joins the discussion about what should be done. "You decided to join us or you want to continue giving my people orders?" Jane asks harshly as Yumiko stands beside her. Yumiko looks around the room and feel flustered from all the stares and walks over to stand in the crowd like everyone else while Jane stands in front of everyone.
"Okay, even if you took out half the herd in that cave, she's got thousands left. You can't stay here" Lydia suggests and Jane furrows her eyebrows. "We can't just leave this place. This place means something to a lot of people" Jane says as she locks eyes with Silas but he immediately turns his attention to Earl who begins talking and Jane gets the feels Silas is trying to avoid her especially after what happened between the two.
"The skins could march straight to Alexandria for all we know" Earl states and Daryl nods in agreement. "Yeah, and we're right in their way" Daryl informs while Earl thinks the Whisperers might bypass them and go for Alexandria first, but Lydia negates this.
"She doesn't need to go around you when she can just run right through you" Lydia says, defending that her mother could easily tear down Hilltop. "That may be true but I'm not running. I don't wanna hide from this. If they wanna fight for their home so can we" Jane declares and Jerry agrees.
"Lydia's right. We can rebuild anywhere" Dianne states and Jane scoffs. "You know how long that's gonna take. Months, years even. Why rebuild when we can stay here. At our home" Jane argues as she looks around at the people gathered in her office. Earl continues to be skeptical, however he reckons that they will never find a place as good as Hilltop.
"We have a few dozen able-bodies fighters here. Maybe. You like those odds? Cause I don't" Yumiko states and Jane leans up against her desk feeling overwhelmed and stressed. Jane feels like she has an obligation to keep this place safe and up and running. It's where her husband and sister are buried. This is the place she built up with Maggie, her best friend and Alexandria is the last place she wants to be. Earl insists that fighting is the best course of action, and even if they die, they will die for a place that means something. Aaron points out that there are children at Hilltop, too. Daryl agrees that they should get the kids out first.
"Jane, it's the right thing to do. Think of Roslyn" Aaron urges and Jane sighs as she stands up straight, looking around at everyone in the office. "Pack up and we'll head to Oceanside" Jane orders and everyone in the room nods their head and start to exit the room but Silas ends up staying back.
"Uh.." Silas trials off as she rubs his hands together nervously. "I'm sorry about Magna" Silas mumbles and Jane nods her head slowly and can't help the tears that begin to cloud her vision. "Thank you" Jane says, leaving silence amongst the two until Silas finds the courage to talk again. "You're not a bad leader Jane. It's not a bad thing to wanna fight for a place that means something" Silas advises and Jane swallows a large lump down her throat before locking eyes with Silas and sending him a smile before he exits the office urgently.
As the children climb into the wagon, Judith expresses a desire to stay and fight, "Yeah, me too" Roslyn states and Jane turns around to face Roslyn. but not before looking to Daryl with caution. "That's nice but we gotta keep you safe" Jane says as she steps in front of the wagon ready to put Roslyn on it. "What if I want to keep you safe?" Roslyn asks as she looks up at her mom.
"That's not your job" Jane says, placing a kiss in Roslyn's cheek as she lifts her up and puts her on the wagon with Judith, RJ and the rest of the kids. Daryl and Jane both then spots Carol and Ezekiel arriving, but doesn't go to greet them. "You good?" Daryl asks looking to Jane who locks eyes with Carol and it's clear Carol feels terrible has been blaming herself for Magna and Connie but Jane didn't care. Jane watched as Carol continued to be reckless and put other peoples lives at risk. "I'm fine" Jane says as she places her hand on her gun that lays perfectly in her holster before walking away.
"Hey, can I talk to you?" Yumiko asks as she runs over to Jane before she enters the Barrington house. "What" Jane mumbles coldly as she looks to Yumiko who clears her throat, trying to find the right words. "I'm sorry" Yumiko says and Jane sighs, crossing her arms over her chest. "For?" Jane asks and Yumiko sighs rolling her eyes. "Sorry for... being an". "Asshole" Jane finishes and Yumiko scoffs before reluctantly nodding her head.
"Sure. Sorry for being an asshole" Yumiko states and Jane smiles at her words and pats Yumiko on the shoulder. "It's okay" Jane says, accepting Yumiko's apology and starts to walk away until Yumiko stops her yet again. "What we're her last words?" Yumiko asks referring to Magna and Jane closes her eyes as she relives that memory in her head. And watches Magna leave over and over again.
"She said I'll be back" Jane answers, not turning her attention towards Yumiko. "She never came back" Jane mumbles before walking away.
Hours later, Yumiko had let everyone know that the herd was coming and it was close. Jane ran to her room and put her hair into a low bun as she fixed the holster around her waist making sure she had enough bullets in her gun. She made she had a blade in her boot and one in her holster just in case.
Jane looked over at one of the night stands alongside her bed and noticed one of Magna's knuckle knives on the night stand. She grabbed the knife off the nightstand and replaced her knife with Magna's and placed it in her holster. Jane was about to run downstairs and meet with her people when she saw Roslyn standing in her door way.
"What the— What're you doing? You should be with the other kids" Jane exclaims as she shuts her bedroom door behind and kneels down to Roslyn's level.
"I know you said that it's not my job to keep you safe but it is. Magna's gone and so is daddy and aunty Jo. I'm the only one left" Roslyn states and Jane can't help the tears clouding her vision yet again. "I want to help" Roslyn demands and Jane looks into Roslyn's eyes before pulling her into a hug and holding her like there's no tomorrow. "I love you so so so much" Jane says softly as she pecks the side of Roslyn's cheek lovingly. "Mom!" Roslyn calls out as she wipes Janes kisses off the side of her face, making Jane chuckle even though a few tears were sliding down her cheek.
As everyone is gathered on the front lines, Kelly puts her palms on the ground and confirms that the horde is close. Indeed, the horde soon emerges from the bushes and approaches the Hilltop. While they are momentarily halted by the electric fence, the walkers soon break through it and approach the second line of defense. Aaron orders the survivors to split ranks. The shield-wielding survivors reinforce the makeshift barbed wire fence, while the melee weapon-wielding survivors start taking out the walkers. The archers, meanwhile, stay in the back and rain arrows on the herd.
Behind the herd, Beta commands the Whisperers to launch the sap they collected earlier using makeshift catapults into the front lines, drenching most of the defenders as well as the Hilltop's walls. This is followed by the Whisperers launching fire-arrows into the front lines, setting one unfortunate Hilltop resident ablaze.
Jane widens her eyes as she watches the Hilltop resident burst up into flames. With no choice, the defenders begin to retreat towards the Hilltop, but are trapped when the Whisperers launch another volley of fire-arrows into the Hilltop's walls, setting the community ablaze.
"No..." Jane whispers to herself looking as the fire arrows make their way onto Hilltop grounds.
WORD COUNT: 2700